By SIMON WALTERS Tessa Jowell has been given the unofficial role of ‘political nanny’ to Gordon Brown to prevent him working himself to exhaustion. One of the new tasks of Olympics Minister Ms Jowell, a former social worker, will be to stop Mr Brown’s habit of burning the midnight oil at No10 and then firing emails to officials and Ministers as early as 4am while he is still in his pyjamas. Mr Brown’s puritanical work ethic has been blamed for his increasingly tired, and occasionally haggard, appearance – in stark contrast to Tony Blair, who managed to stay well-toned and tanned for most of his ten years in Downing Street. Calm down: Tessa Jowell is to stop Gordon Brown behaving 'like a bear with a sore head' Ardent Blairite Ms Jowell’s promotion in the recent reshuffle – she was given a Cabinet role to add to her Olympic duties – came as a surprise to many MPs. The key to her new job is her position inside the Cabinet Office, which is linked to No10 by a secret passage in the bowels of Whitehall. Experienced and unflappable, Ms Jowell has long been seen as someone who Labour MPs can turn to for tea and sympathy in times of trouble. Her support and encouragement for Mr Blair when he was in despair after the Iraq War and on the brink of resigning was crucial in persuading him to stay on. Now she will use the same counselling skills to help Mr Brown cope with the similar stresses and strains of tackling the recession and facing constant attacks from critics both inside and outside his party. A well-placed source said: ‘Tessa has been asked to do simple and practical things, like making sure Gordon goes to bed at a reasonable time and gets plenty of sleep to stop him being like a bear with a sore head in the morning. ‘She can use her people skills – which are considerable – to help calm Gordon down, make him more at ease with himself and get him to behave in a more human fashion. She has the knack of making people feel important. ‘The intention is that with a bit of nannying from Tessa, Gordon will be less paranoid and will foster some kind of unity in the Cabinet. 'Experienced and unflappable': Tessa Jowell, seated third to the right from Gordon Brown, in the first Cabinet meeting following the reshuffle. Ms Jowell has been tasked with the unofficial role of 'political nanny'. ‘Tony consulted her regularly on all sorts of issues and when he was feeling low. Hopefully, she can bring out a softer side in Gordon. ‘She will not be sending him up to bed with a cup of Horlicks, but quietly making sure he gets proper rest rather than staying up fretting and plotting until all hours – and But one Labour aide commented: ‘Tessa is going to need plenty of supplies of Night Nurse.’ Before Ms Jowell entered politics, she worked as a psychiatric social worker and was an administrator for mental health charity Mind. Ms Jowell’s businessman husband David Mills was given a jail sentence in his absence in February for accepting £350,000 from Italian President Silvio Berlusconi in return for giving false testimony at two trials. The couple separated three years ago amid claims that it was a ploy to avoid damage to Ms Jowell’s political career. Despite the split they have not divorced, are said to be still ‘in love’ and to meet regularly at weekends. Ms Jowell will be assisted in bolstering the Prime Minister’s morale by the increasingly influential Ulster Secretary, Shaun Woodward, who has become one of Mr Brown’s closest confidants in recent months. Like Ms Jowell, former Tory MP Mr Woodward has also been given a Cabinet Office base. He has been called the Prime Minister’s ‘Mini Mandy’ after shamelessly modelling himself on Lord Mandelson and will help Mr Brown prepare for his weekly Commons clashes with Tory leader David Cameron.Perfect new role for Nanny Jowell: making sure Gordon gets to bed on time
Last updated at 11:15 PM on 13th June 2009
she will put a stop to all the shouting and screaming.’
Monday, 15 June 2009
...............SO WHERES MRS BROWN ....SARAH ?????????????????
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