|
Campaign analysis: Sunday May 1
Daniel Forman's daily diary of the election campaign.
Sunday May 1, 2:12pm
There they were. One a former, fresh-faced anti-establishment figure now showing his age and firmly part of the upper order, going through the motions for the final time. The other Tony Blair.
But enough about Sir David Frost in his final pre-election interview. What about the prime minister in his keynote eve of poll grilling?
Actually there was not a lot in it, save for a seemingly unecessary reference to how good a foreign secretary Jack Straw had been.
That sounded very much like the dreaded vote of confidence following a
Sunday Telegraph reshffle story suggesting that Straw is about to be dropped.
Then again the Sunday Telegraph has it own reason for wanting to give the impression that Blair thinks this election is in the bag and is already planning what to do on Friday morning.
Conveying an image of complacency is the opposite of the Observer trying to convince readers that this could yet be a repeat of 1970 and a shock Labour defeat.
Blair of course will have none of it. The idea of even discussing the size of his likely majority sent a "shiver down his spine" he said.
But plans to hit the ground running on Friday will quietly be forming in the prime minister's head.
Such was the scale of his superstition in 1997 that he reputedly refused to listen to chief of staff Jonathon Powell's pleas for a plan for the first few days in office.
In 2001 Robin Cook's unexpected demotion put a spanner in the reshufffle works and a curiously bare policy cupboard meant momentum never really got going.
This time, time will be shorter than ever. Even presuming he does win Blair knows the clock is already ticking on his tenure in Number 10.
If he is to achieve the kind of lasting legacy he desires he better get going quickly and start forming his plan soon.
Just don't let it get too widely known before Friday, least of all to David Frost. There is a big job to be done on Labour's turnout first.
|
