The Long Goodbye

So it's official. Tony Blair is to leave office on 27 June. Television news programmes have already had their first stab at assessing Mr Blair's premiership and the newspapers will have their turn tomorrow. And then, on 27 June, when he finally does go, we will have to endure it all again.

Of all the things to pick up on though, it is the date of his departure that I find interesting. Wednesday 27 June 2007. Why that date? Well, obviously it will take some weeks for the Labour party to go through its procedure to select a new leader, so Blair has to allow sufficient time for that process. Yet, according to one BBC report that I saw earlier, the new leader will be announced on 24 June. That's a Sunday. Now, we all know that Gordon Brown is likely to be the next Labour leader. Mr Brown is a good God fearing man and a son of the manse. But are his Sabbatarian principles such that they won't let him become Prime Minister on a Sunday? Or maybe the Queen just doesn't want him pitching up at the Palace and ruining her Sunday joint.

And why a Wednesday? I suppose its just coincidence that Prime Minister's Questions takes place on a Wednesday. But who is going to be answering them? Are we going to have PMQs with Prime Minister Blair receiving tributes from grieving Labour MPs, while Mr Brown, the new leader of the Labour party, looks on? Or will Blair resign earlier in the morning and allow the new Prime Minister Brown to take the first questions of his premiership, as the former PM takes his place on the backbenches?

I might be just a little cynical, but my guess is that Blair will do whatever makes Brown most uncomfortable.