Mandelson won’t be the only loser. For Blair, he was much more than just an efficient minister handling a tricky brief. Mandelson was Labour’s master tactician. His political skills proved crucial in helping the party regain power in 1997. Along with Blair, he invented the socialism-light “New Labour” that ended 17 years of Conservative rule. Now Blair must face the next election, likely to be held in early summer, with his key aide in political exile. Taunted Tory leader William Hague, “Do you recognize that your career-long dependence on [Mandelson] has been a monumental error of judgment?”
Whatever his contribution, Mandelson won’t be widely mourned for long, even in his own party. Resentment festered among hard-liners who saw in Mandelson all that was rotten in New Labour: the emphasis on image, the dilution of socialist principles and the insistence that M.P.s stay “on message.” Says left-wing M.P. Jeremy Corbyn, “He changed the party into a press-release machine rather than a campaigning political organization.” His glossy personal style and open homosexuality did little to help his case with Labour fundamentalists. Tailored suits, a home in London’s chic Notting Hill and workouts are rare among old-style Labour M.P.s. Nor did his taste for the high life. His name appeared on the A list for any bash thrown by New Labour’s rich sponsors. Two years ago, he was the only minister to attend Prince Charles’s private 50th-birthday party.
Could he stage one more comeback? Supporters in his Hartlepool constituency say they will back him again for the seat he still holds in Parliament. Writing in the Sunday Times, Mandelson, who says he did not act improperly, admitted that he felt “isolated” by the “inaccurate, misleading and untrue” portrayal of the events leading up to his fall. Insiders say Blair can still expect Mandelson’s advice in the run-up to the election, but there’ll be no place for him on a public platform. Blair once remarked that his party should learn to love Peter Mandelson. Clearly, it never did.
