Martha Kearney's week

By Martha Kearney
Presenter, BBC Radio 4's World at One

Has Lord Mandelson's return sharpened up the government's PR?

On my return from Washington, it's been interesting to see how enthused British politicians of all hues have been by Barack Obama's victory.

Already his campaigning techniques are being pored over by party strategists as Britain tries to catch up with US sophistication.

Lord Owen reminded me this week that the SDP had been at the cutting edge when it let people pay for their party membership by credit card.

MPs have filed a Commons motion asking that early voting be introduced here to enable more people to cast their ballots.

But I wonder if it really is inconvenience that deters voters or a lack of passion for any of the candidates.

Accusations

I imagine many viewers and listeners were dismayed by prime minister's questions this week.

Wednesday saw the biggest rise in unemployment figures for a decade. David Cameron said that before he turned to the economy, he wanted to raise the case of Baby P and the local authority's failure to have an independent inquiry.

When Gordon Brown accused him of playing party politics, the Conservative leader demanded a retraction and so an extremely angry exchange built up, leaving no time for questions about the economy.

We discussed that with our panel afterwards. Francis Maude explained that David Cameron had been furious because he hadn't mentioned the political complexion of Haringey council (Labour).

Ruth Kelly in return said that the intervention had "turned her stomach" - the use of a child's tragedy for political ends.

Independent inquiry

I am not sure whether either man benefited. Gordon Brown was exposed for not answering David Cameron's question and seemed unsure of his ground.

Later in the day the schools secretary did announce there would be an independent inquiry and the whistleblower's letter will make life difficult for the government.

However by getting carried away and insisting on a retraction, David Cameron risked making the row appear more about him than about Baby P.

This hasn't been an easy time for the Conservatives. Their apparently unassailable poll lead has been shrinking.

Murmuring continues about the shadow chancellor, George Osborne, with speculation that he could be moved from his portfolio.

Yachtgate has given ammunition to those MPs who have always been critical of his policies and suspicious of the party's modernising direction.

Sharper tactics

It will be interesting to see if David Cameron bows to those pressures and sacrifices either his closest political friend or any of the policies which originally defined the party's new direction.

Some Conservatives have detected a sharpening of Labour's tactics since the return of Peter Mandelson and Alastair Campbell.

For example, this week after a carefully stage-managed series of leaks, the government abandoned the highly unpopular policy of taking a government benefits contract away from the Post Office.

At the global summit in Washington, Gordon Brown will attempt to show that he is setting the international agenda on the economy.

But given this week's gloomy news - those unemployment figures and the Bank of England's prediction of serious recession - I wonder how long it will be before the government starts attracting blame again for what's gone wrong.

On Tuesday night, I went to parties given by two extremely powerful men in British politics, neither of them elected.

At Tate Britain, under colourfully floodlit columns, Roland Rudd held court. The founder of Finsbury public relations, he is extremely well connected with pro-European politicians and business people.

Peter Mandelson was there along with Nick Clegg.

Just down the road Lord Ashcroft, the Conservative donor was holding a reception at the top of Millbank Tower. His guests included David Davis, John Redwood and Andy McNabb.

I wonder which network has the most firepower.

Away from Westminster politics, I have been reading a very good novel called America, America by Ethan Canin. The story of a disgraced senator, it seemed a good choice while I was covering the elections.

Last night I went to a world premiere at the Royal Opera House of a new ballet choreographed by Wayne MacGregor with a video installation by Julian Opie. You can see the programme I have presented about "Infra" on Saturday 22nd on BBC Two.

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