How John Smith set the scene for Tony Blair’s New Labour

I had been the Shadow Local Government Minister to someone who might now have been forgotten in Britain, but was way ahead of his time, namely the New Zealander, Bryan Gould. Apart from his strong opposition to Europe, which might have coloured his judgement; he was espousing ‘New Labour’ before the term was invented. Bryan taught me many things. The most important was teamwork. I learnt that the team around you – in my case, both ministers and special advisers – was vital to success.

John Smith, who was seen by the world as a safe pair of hands – was in fact, known as ‘the banker’ in the days when the local bank manager was really trusted. He set the scene for Tony Blair, who, two years later, was to take over the leadership. The night before John’s death, we had all gathered for a major fundraising dinner at the beginning of the election campaign for the European Parliament.

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