My sincere admiration goes to Gillian Duffy, the lifelong Labour supporter from Rochdale, whose trip to the shops last April to buy a loaf of bread turned into the defining moment of the 2010 general election campaign.
Given her very public humiliation at the hands of the leader of her party, who churlishly denounced her as a “bigoted woman”, she might have felt tempted, were she a lesser person, to tell Labour where to stick it.
Mrs Duffy, however, is made of sterner stuff, and yesterday was guest of honour at the opening of the offices of Simon Danczuk, Rochdale’s new Member of Parliament.
Gillian Duffy is a trooper who is clearly devoted to her party and prepared to put the past behind her to advance its cause.
One might be inclined to contrast her conduct with that of Gordon Brown, of whom little has been seen since May.
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Just a couple of observations.
Firstly, I’d say the humiliation of Brown’s typically ham-fisted remarks was wholly brought upon himself and his own party.
Secondly, whereas Gillian Duffy may have resolved to put the past behind her, Brown contrived to put the Labour Party’s foreseeable future behind it!