Major v Brown?

Is there a difference between when John Major took over as Prime Minister to then Gordon Brown takes over from Tony Blair?

I don’t really believe there is. When Thatcher was re-elected in 1987 the electorate voted for her as Prime Minister untill the next election, not for John Major to take over when she resigned. This will be the same when Tony Blair steps down and Gordon Brown takes over. Now Blair did say at the last election that he would serve a full term which is the argument David Cameron used today. But I think this is just a statement of what everyone was expecting anyway.

So does Brown have a mandate to carry on as Prime Minister? I think he does. Brown is an elected MP, who became leader of the party and the leader of the largest party in the House of Commons forms a Government. That’s the way it is, there’s nothing that requires Brown to hold an election so why should he, just like John Major chose not to.