Steve Richards: A new era signals that the battle to win the next election is already underway

Published: 06 December 2005

The last election was held only last May, but already it seems like a distant historic event. The outlines of the next one are visible and suddenly the future seems to matter more. Michael Howard retires today. Tony Blair will be gone at some point before the next election. Almost certainly, Gordon Brown will be Prime Minister. Unlike previous pre-budget reports yesterday's exchanges had little to reveal about economic policy, but in political terms they were highly charged and revelatory.

After an abnormally long break, normal party politics is resuming. Since the election Mr Howard has been no more than a caretaker leader. The vacuum is filled formally when David Cameron is elected today as the Conservatives' new leader, but the battle to win the next election began yesterday as Gordon Brown outlined his priorities for the next few years. In response, the shadow Chancellor, George Osborne, gave the clearest indication yet as to how he and Mr Cameron will take on the Government, or to be more precise, a Brown-led government.

Article Length: 1154 words (approx.)