The Guardian’s political editor in 1997 recalls the optimism then and what went wrong in the transition from opposition to power
Tony Blair and his wife, Cherie, at the Labour victory party at the Royal Festival Hall on 2 May 1997.Tony Blair and his wife, Cherie, at the Labour victory party at the Royal Festival Hall on 2 May 1997.The Guardian’s political editor in 1997 recalls the optimism then and what went wrong in Labour’s last transition from opposition to power
After 18 years in the wilderness, celebrations did not come any sweeter than this. As the victorious candidates flew down from their constituency counts to greet each other and the now well-established revellers at the Festival Hall, the euphoria overflowed, as did the drink.even smiled at Peter Mandelson, who found time to dance with John Prescott to the appalling campaign song on repeat, Things Can Only Better.
Blair would come to immediately regret it but, looking at the sky changing hue, he impulsively said: “A new dawn has broken, has it not?” In his autobiography he admitted he knew he had “sent the already stratospheric expectations into another and higher orbit”.are somewhat different. His landslide, unlike 1997, was not a surprise but a seismological certainty. Nor can anyone accuse him of raising unrealistic expectations.
There was also, at least for Blair, an expected sense of loneliness. “There would be no more team, no more friendly clique, no more shared emotions amongst a band of intimates. There would be them and there would be me,” he wrote. Out of government, Blair and his chief of staff Jonathan Powell have reflected deeply on what went wrong with the transition to government in the first term. The list is long. Some ministers with no experience or aptitude for administration; exhaustion after the plans for the first 100 days run out; battles for resources with the Treasury leading to ministers briefing against one another.
Such has been the distracting internal Conservative chaos inside No 10 that many Whitehall departments have been left on autopilot. Although the civil service is said to respond best to clear instructions, it will be a culture shock to have energetic, focused ministers determined to make an early impact.
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