I’ve been reflecting a lot on British politics over the past week or two, principally as english papers were far easier come by on my hols than any others. The Guardian is always excellent, particularly if time is available to read it properly.

So it got me thinking about a few things. Firstly Gordon Brown and the qausi leadership contest underway in the Labour party. I always liked Brown saw him as the cerebral force behind the throne, the substance behind the spin, and an antidote to the politics of instant gratification. But he does seem to have slipped up somehow along the way since he finally took the reins. One or two by-elections can be forgiven but four in a row is worrying. And now he has a whippersnapper chasing at his heels.

On face value I didn’t think much to David Milliband initially. A young pretender, and tagged a Blairite, I felt it bitter consequence that Brown would be taken out yet again by the other camp and he barely a wet week in the job. However as I read up on Miliband the more I learned the more I liked. Geniune green politics. A focus on education. A society more than an economy. Balanced devolution. Empowered local government. An authentic social democracy. And a copy of the ‘New Left Review’ tucked into his holiday suitcase apparently. Substance as well as style. Not so Blairite after all perhaps.

Having said that I don’t think it’s a good idea to chop and change leaders. The Tories learned that and are finally making headway under Cameron. Fine Gael finally got going with Enda Kenny after repeated bouts of regicide almost condemened them to oblivion. Even the controlling commies had one chaotic period with Brezhnev, Andropov, Chernenko swapping out in rapid succession and look how that worked out for them.

So I wouldn’t be lighting the funeral pyres at number 10 just yet.