The paperback edition of Peter Mandelson’s autobiography, The Third Man, will be published on Monday; here, in exclusive extracts to Left Foot Forward, he reveals what he really thinks of David Cameron.
The paperback edition of Peter Mandelson’s autobiography, The Third Man, will be published on Monday, containing a new preface which brings the edition up to date, covering the Labour party’s leadership election and the impact on Britain of the coalition government; here, in exclusive extracts to Left Foot Forward, Lord Mandleson reveals what he really thinks of David Cameron
On Cameron’s attempt to mimic new Labour…
[By the time we reached the 2010 election…] we were seen as having moved away from where the bulk of mainstream voters place themselves – in the aspirational centre ground of politics. That, of course, was precisely where David Cameron had dragged the Tories, to the squealing disapproval of many on his party’s right.
Like Tony Blair, he recognised that just about anyone under the age of forty, and many above it, wanted a combination of economic and social liberalism. That is what New Labour offered. It was what Cameron – minus the baggage of his party’s intolerant right wing– wanted to offer too… (p.xxx)
As Cameron and his team woke up to the scale and ambition of our original (New Labour) project, they realised the extent of the changes they too had to make to put them on the road back to power. (p.xxxi)
On Cameron’s “big tent” and relief in not being invited to enter it…
I can well understand why Cameron, in a further cloning of our own overtures to policy experts across party divides, included a ‘big tent’ approach to involve serious Labour policy minds like John Hutton on pensions and Frank Field on welfare among his early moves. I do not feel that agreeing to advise the coalition on issues that we too think are important is a great political crime, especially when the people concerned are not being asked to contribute to the debate about their own party’s future.
I admit to a sense of relief, however, that despite media speculation, I was not put on the spot by receiving such an invitation. (p.xxxvi)
On Cameron’s strengths and weaknesses…
Indeed, the more some Tories on the right pushed back, the more authentic Cameron’s moves appeared, just as those on the left who argued against New Labour had helped to reinforce the changes Tony was making. From early on, I saw, and tried to persuade Labour colleagues, that Cameron was not just another right-wing Tory leader.
If only because of his distinctly Blair-like talent as a political communicator, I also felt we would fail if we simply relied on our efforts to convince the country that he was some sort of clever charlatan.
I did question whether in reality he had the desire, or the ability, to follow through with the kind of profound, longer-term change in his party – a shift not just in political position but in ideology – that we had achieved in New Labour. From his early record in government, however, you have to give him points for trying, at least. Indeed, I suspect that he is temperamentally more at ease in leading a coalition than he would be leading a government of his own party. (p.xxxii)
26 Responses to “Exclusive: What Mandelson really thinks of Cameron”
T Duncan
I can’t think what Mandleson is saying here – Cameron is leading the most Righ-wing government we have seen and is making changes based on anti-
Socialist ideology. It is undermining and removing all the insitutions that were built for the people of the UK post-1945 under the guise of necessary cuts for the economy. How can he suggest that Cameron is taking his Party to the centre? Mandleson is a Fifth Colomnist – I have always thought it.
Anon E Mouse
Whilst there can’t be anyone stupid enough to suggest that Ed Miliband is even in the same league as Cameron (or Clegg even) – that’s a given – but I do not see Cameron as being anywhere near as good as Tony Blair.
Blair had a talent to capture the centre ground which is the only way to win in the UK and the reason he was Labour’s greatest ever leader.
Ed Miliband didn’t even have the talent to capture the votes of the Labour MP’s or Labour Party members and should be ditched ASAP…
Steve Kelly
New Labour let down the vast majority of the people of this country. Of that there is no doubt. The so called third way was the most ridiculous incarnation ever. As for attacking Ed Miliband, that all the New labour infiltrators have left. They are a busted flush. They don’t it but still pretend that the only way Labour can win is to continue to advocate the same ridiculous Tory policies.
What’s more supporters are hiding behind pseudonyms.
The biggest problem with Ed MIliband is he too nice. He lacks passion and needs to get a grip.
chris star
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Lisa Jenkins
RT @unitonehifi: Exclusive: What Mandelson really thinks of Cameron…
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