Rattled Labour as Polls Turn

Am just watching a Labour minister (Ivan Lewis) give a truly awful, evasive reply to the question about when Brown will hold an election. Last week, men like this would have been agitating for an election. A week later, a better than expected Tory Conference, and now some new polls showing a sharp decrease in Labour's lead, seem to be combining to give Gordon election collywobbles. I genuinely think he has absolutely no idea whether he wants to go to the country in November or not. We do know he has to make the decision soon, but it looks a lot less predictable than it might have done.

Bill Jones, on his blog, has given a useful analysis of Brown's current chances, concluding, after going through some telling details, that 'Gordon may have blown it'. Perhaps not blown it, but certainly left the political scene as wide open as its ever been, and that's no bad thing for democracy wherever you stand!

On Newsnight, Andrew Lansley (Shadow Health), by the way, is projecting considerable confidence!