The end of New Labour?

I've been reflecting on Gordon Brown's all time low rating in the opinion polls. This is being driven in part by mistakes made by the government, and is also a reflection of people's anxiety about the economy. But, maybe the volatility in the electorate reflects something deeper.

A characteristic of current politics in Britain is that people are very worried about lots of aspects of the world today - the economy, crime, migration, the environment - but they are sceptical about the capacity of their government, or any government, to deliver real change and improvement. A second characteristic is ideological convergence.

It's gotten to the point that if a policy announcement were stripped of its party affiliations even the most sophisticated political commentator would be hard pressed to know where it had come from.