A heads up for all Politics students and teachers

Ch4. Dispatches. Gordon Brown: Where Did It All Go Wrong?

Monday, 9 June, 8pm

In the Observer, Andrew Rawnsley says of his own documentary:

‘A documentary on Channel 4 tomorrow exposes the deep divisions within the cabinet about whether or not to call an election last autumn. With Brown unable to make up his mind, he consulted his senior ministers - only to find that they were utterly split. Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, tells the programme she was ‘in favour of going for an election’, while Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, says that he was against. Hazel Blears, the Communities Secretary, discloses that she also lobbied against an election in October or November last year for fear that Labour voters would not turn out on ‘dark nights’.

Cabinet ministers also speak candidly about the differences between Brown and Tony Blair. Straw says that the cabinet is ‘now more collegial’ and Brown takes longer to make decisions than his predecessor. ‘Tony was a much more instinctive decision-maker,’ he says.’