THE END OF THE PARTY: RISE AND FALL OF NEW LABOUR by Andrew Rawnsley (From The Oxford Times)

THE END OF THE PARTY: RISE AND FALL OF NEW LABOUR by Andrew Rawnsley

9:20am Thursday 11th March 2010

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THE END OF THE PARTY: RISE AND FALL OF NEW LABOUR

Andrew Rawnsley (Viking, £25)

These pitiless revelations about New Labour’s record in Government since 2001 are disturbing, even horrifying at times, and it is not surprising that Andrew Rawnsley’s book has received a huge amount of pre-publication publicity.

Labour’s achievements, such as saving the banking system from a potentially disastrous collapse, are overshadowed in the media by endless tales of vicious Governmental infighting, back-stabbing, and serious errors of judgment.

Andrew Rawnsley is a highly respected journalist and broadcaster who is chief political commentator of the Observer. Some of his allegations have been denied by the Government, but it seems unlikely that he would have told lies, or used dubious source material.

This compelling, if wordy, book portrays Gordon Brown as a bad-tempered ogre who fought long, and sometimes brutally, hard to get Tony Blair’s Prime Ministerial job for himself. When one sees here what that prestigious post actually demands day-to-day, from the incumbent and their family, one begins to wonder if it is worth the cost.

Andrew Rawnsley will be at the Oxford Literary Festival on March 24. See www.oxfordliteraryfestival.com, box office 0870 343 1001.