Tony Blair will come back to frontline politics to campaign for the Labour party in the run up to the election, according to a story just published by timesonline.
The story says:
"Downing Street figures expect the former Prime Minister to be asked to campaign in marginal seats where his appeal to “aspirational voters”, those whom Gordon Brown has struggled to reach, will matter most"
...
"A source close to Mr Blair confirmed that discussions had taken place about what he might do in the election. “My guess is that he will concentrate on the C1s and C2s — ‘Basildon Man’ and ‘Worcester Woman’. That’s what he’s best at.”
It's been a bizarre if not successful couple of days for Labour. First, Lord Mandelson, formerly the most unpopular man in the Labour party and twice asked to resign by the government, has made the most popular speech at the Labour party conference and now Tony Blair who left Downing Street under a black cloud is being reeled in to drum up popular support.
Part of me, the same part that smiles when I see Oasis play Cigarettes and Alcohol, is pleased to see a return of things that represent New Labour’s better days. But the other part of me, the part that realises seeing Oasis in 2009 is not quite the same also realises that constant talk of change and fight conflicts with the same people who sat in a café plotting New Labour 15 years ago still firmly at the healm.
This change of events shows one thing though - peoples popularity is always relative to the crowd they hang out in and David Cameron is not as close to Basildon Man and Worcester Woman as Tony Blair was in his pomp. Still with Labour scoring in the mid-twenties in most opinion polls they have a long way to go.
