The whole Blair - Brown succession thing left me cold - it was all pretty inevitable and uninspiring. So I was realy surprised at my reaction when Brown announced that he intended to bring in talent from specialist sectors, business and other political parties to advise him on policy and major decisions. I was pleasantly surprised!
This is a really wise move: bringing in people with experience outside of your own brings clarity and perspective. Recently my colleagues in New York hired Gene Colter (an ex WSJ senior journalist). Gene had no direct PR experience but he had a heck of a lot of experience of being on the receiving end of people like me! It was a risk..but the risk paid off in spades. Gene has within months made a significant and easily measurable difference to our business on many levels.
This weekend I conducted a mini straw poll of my friends to assess their views of our new PM. Most were cynical, all pretty much indifferent and unanimous in their dislike (but reluctant acceptance of) the new Labour premier. I wonder if this is more to do with Brown's lack of 'Blair Flair' than with his actual personal manifesto (which seems to me far more sensible than his predecessor's).
Whatever happens his record will speak for itself but I am willing to give him a go (I am by no means a Labour die-hard). He has had a hard couple of days with terrorist attacks overshadowing all his intended moves. And recruiting specialists like Lord Stevens as his security advisor may well be Brown's making....
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