Pickles: 10p row made it respectable to dislike Brown

Eric Pickles' stock has never been higher, not least for his masterful analysis over the last hour of last night. He has just offered a very cute analysis of the Labour wipeout, laying it at Gordon Brown's door.

He suggested that although there has been simmering discontent with Gordon Brown for several months, the row over 10p tax gave voters "a respectable reason to turn against Brown" because it showed the Prime Minister as "incompetent as well as unjust." He also said that while Labour assumed they had helped those affected, anger spread way beyond the individuals who would lose out. Sounds plausible.

And the news gets worse. As the broganblog revealed moments ago, David Pitt-Watson, Brown's handpicked choice as new General Secretary, has just resigned without even taking up the post. Another huge embarrassment.