2008: Political review

Peter Mandelson and Boris Johnson were 2008's surprise winners while Gordon Brown had to battle to survive. The Prime Minister was hit by his first Cabinet resignation in January when Peter Hain stood down as Work and Pensions Secretary over undeclared donations to his deputy leadership campaign. The police spent most of the year investigating the case before deciding not to bring any charges. February brought the nationalisation of Northern Rock and saw the growing global economic crisis begin to dominate the political agenda. April was the month of the 10p tax row, when a plan to scrap the income tax starting rate triggering the biggest Labour rebellion of Gordon Brown's premiership. The Prime Minister survived the revolt but was forced into an embarrassing climbdown. His unpopularity deepened in May when Labour suffered humiliating defeats in local elections. And Boris Johnson, who was once seen as a joke candidate, ousted Ken Livingstone as Mayor of London. June was the month of the 42-day terror debate. The Government won its bid to extend the time suspects can be held without trial. Tory frontbencher David Davis shocked Westminster by resigning to fight a by-election on the issue. When Labour lost the apparently safe Glasgow East seat to the SNP in a by-election there were whispers that Foreign Secretary David Miliband might be in the running to replace him as Prime Minister. October saw the return of Peter Mandelson when the controversial New Labour architect was brought back from Europe and found himself in the Cabinet for a third stint. In November, the full extent of Britain's economic mess was laid bare in the Pre-Budget report when we were told that borrowing would hit a staggering £118 billion. Chancellor Alistair Darling cut VAT but had to admit that Labour would introduce a new 45 percent tax rate for high earners after the next election. The credit crunch looks set to dominate politics well into the New Year.

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ITN | December 30, 2008

Tags:. .mandelson. .byelection. .snp. .unpopularity. .whispers