The FT has an article about the difficulties that the Labour Party faces in winning back the electors that deserted them in 2005. The article concentrates on the Battersea constituency.
When Labour galloped to victory in the 1997 general election, Battersea was one of the seats that handed Mr Blair his industrial-sized majority when it dumped its Conservative incumbent and voted in Labour's Martin Linton with a majority of more than 5,000. That majority stayed strong in 2001, but was slashed to 163 last year as the Tories won back lost ground.
The writer goes on to interview some people in the local Labour Club.
"The politicians rob the old, they rob everyone," fumed one member. "Blair's government is to blame and Brown is part of that."
Other members were more forgiving, dismissing evidence from polls and focus groups that Mr Brown has some way to go before he is seen by the public as a fully paid-up member of the human race.
Martin Sanders, 63, warmly recalled the annual £200 heating allowance for the elderly introduced by Mr Brown. "If he does his job properly, who cares about his personality? He's been with Blair so many years that he's bound to continue the same policies."
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