"My reading of Brown is that he would find it hard dealing with a contested election when he would have to ask people for their votes. It is not easy trying to envisage Brown as the supplicant. After more than a decade expecting the mantle just to be handed over the reality of fighting a serious contest would be very challenging. Johnson, or somebody like him, could give him a run for his money."Indeed. I can't imagine the man who would be King adapting very well to the business of ingratiating himself to people and grubbing around for votes.
The other thing I wonder is, aren't there any MPs - and not just Blairites - that are getting a bit pissed-off with Brown's assumption that the next leadership election will simply be a coronation? I know I would be.
And, assuming he does become leader, isn't there the possibility of the IDS factor coming into play? I don't mean Brown lacks authority in the way IDS did but in this respect: Ian Duncan Smith enraged many Tories with his demands for loyalty during his short reign. Enraged because he had hardly showed Major any during Maastricht. Obviously Brown isn't a serial backbench rebel obsessed with Europe but isn't there a possibility that Brown's calls for unity - which he will surely have to make - will grate with quite a few MPs? Because he has behaved rather badly, I think.
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