Last week the Commons was dead. To be fair, the life was sucked out of it months ago and each resignation brings with it brings a new grey cloud, as one MP after the other stands down. Chat surrounds those who haven’t yet made the decision whether or not to go and some of those still deciding haven’t been here for very long.
The only buzz is in Portcullis House, where all MPs put on a brave face, those that bother to emerge from their office that is. MP spotting isn’t that easy these days.
If the public complained that they didn’t see enough of us sat on the Green benches before, they must be enraged by now.
To be fair, the depression is highest amongst Labour MPs, like you would expect I suppose - although the snowstorm plot did usher in a ray of sunshine for some, it quickly faded.
What has got people going today is the General Election chatter. Overheard just now (by me) in the ladies loo, was one lobbyist to another, quoting a Labour MP, “he said it could be June”.
'No it won’t', thought I, not unless Gordon really has lost the plot.
Imagine the scenario: Labour councillors are wiped out during the council elections in May. As soon as their defeat has been announced on national TV, on every radio and in every newspaper, with headlines declaring ‘Labour Massacre’, and Nick Robinson has stood outside No 10 declaring ‘It’s impossible to imagine how on earth Labour can recover from this‘, Gordon Brown calls the General Election and asks all his activists and councillors to pick themselves up, dust themselves off and start all over again.
Never. It’ll never happen. Not unless he really has lost the plot. March, April or May – and just to be different – my money is on April. Too many astute Labour MPs have dropped the May 6th date in an ‘ooops, I didn’t mean to do that’ kind of way.
No one is talking about April; April would be a surprise. Would an element of surprise give Labour any advantage? Who knows, I just know I’ll eat my non-existent hat if a sane PM calls June.