Past Present Future Talking … Peter Mandelson and New Labour w/Helen Thompson
33 snips
Apr 26, 2026 
Helen Thompson, political economist who studies New Labour and its leaders. She unpacks the Mandelson–Blair–Brown triangle, scenes of betrayal like Granita, and Mandelson’s rises, falls and returns. Short, dramatic vignettes cover resignations, policy fights over Europe and the euro, the Iraq split, and later revelations that darken Mandelson’s influence.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
New Labour As A History Play
- New Labour reads like a history play about the battle for political power with alliances, betrayals, and the quest for the crown.
- David Runciman frames Blair, Brown and Mandelson as central recurring characters whose friendships shaped decades of poisonous politics.
Mandelson Triggered Decades Of Bitterness
- Gordon Brown treated Peter Mandelson's support for Blair as a foundational personal betrayal that shaped subsequent animosities.
- Helen Thompson argues Brown's later behavior stems partly from his own flaws but is fuelled by that perceived betrayal dating to Granita in 1994.
Brown As A Flawed Tragic Figure
- Brown is presented as a quasi-tragic figure undone more by psychological flaws than mere circumstance.
- Andrew Rawnsley's account is cited to show Brown's destructive behavior toward colleagues and acute self-awareness of his unsuitability.
