After the shock of losing the safe seat of Dunfermline and West Fife to the Liberal Democrats last week, it was pardonable that some Blairites, weary of being made to feel grateful for Gordon Brown's carefully timed interventions to save the prime ministerial bacon, enjoyed a moment's Schadenfreude. If this was the best the "Thane of Fife" could do on his home patch, then what chance did he have of charming middle England? The moment, it must be said, swiftly passed. Old habits die hard, but for once Blairites and Brownites are doing their best not to snipe at each other. Both camps are united in the belief that they have a duty to bring about a smooth transition of prime ministerial power.
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