After 18 months in office, the Blair Government in Britain has hit its first significant trouble. Last week, the Secretary for Trade and Industry, Peter Mandelson, resigned after disclosing he had received a $1 million loan to buy an up-market property in London from millionaire Paymaster-General Geoffrey Robinson. The loan itself was not improper. However, given that the Trade Ministry was investigating some of Mr Robinson’s business affairs, it should have been disclosed a repaid immediately.
There were two refreshing elements to the scandal. The first is that Mr Mandelson has a reputation for political spin — the capacity to put a good light on the worst of circumstances to keep the party’s image intact, but when the crunch came the spin doctor could not spin himself out of trouble. Anything that weakens the position of spin doctors in modern liberal democratic politics is to be welcomed.
The second is that Mr Mandelson and Mr Robinson did not take much persuading to resign, for the good of the party, the Government and the country. In Westminster systems, the principle of ministerial responsibility has been weakened so much that only fear of significant voter backlash is likely to result in resignation. Principle usually has nothing to do with it. In recent years in Australia we have seen a huge amount of ministerial squirming and stubbornness (on both sides of politics) despite obvious circumstances to warrant a resignation.
Mr Blair should be able to weather this storm and after a suitable interval (the next election) he will be able to return Mr Mandelson to the ministry. But often the turning of political fortune does not arise out of just one incident, but from the culmination of several. To that extent, whatever the polls say, Mr Blair has used up some political capital.