So Tony Blair is finally letting go of the reins of power.

Many congratulations to the new, ahem, caretaker Prime Minister, Gordon Brown. Not that I've actually voted for him, since, of course, nobody has actually voted for him specifically. Apparently, there's a noticeboard somewhere in Westminster where you could suggest him for the job, in preference to someone you haven't even heard of before, or, presumably, your own suggested nomination of someone like Mr Blobby. The other guy trying for the leadership, a certain John McDonnell, whom hardly anybody had heard of, said that his own failure to gain enough support to force a contest was "a blow for democracy". Of course, it was nothing of the kind, unless he meant "democracy" in the narrow sense of parliamentary representative government. Had he persuaded a few more MPs to support his candidature, Mr McDonnell would have ensured that the new PM would be "elected" solely by the Labour Party members, thus disenfranchising every Conservative, Lib Dem, SNP, Plaid Cymru, DUP, Ulster Unionist, Sinn Fein, Green, Save Our Local Hospital and Monster Raving Loony supporter in the country. That would have been very democratic.

Please don't misunderstand me. I'm sure that Gordon Brown will prove to be an extremely capable Prime Minister, just as he's proven himself a very effective Chancellor. And I dare say John McDonnell is a very intelligent and well-intentioned MP. But I can't help feeling that the ability of a single political clique or even one political party to impose its own candidate as leader of the nation undermines democratic principles. Of course, in theory British elections install a party in power rather than an individual; but very often it is the specific individual at the head of the party who has won it its mandate for power. Blair's power base at the polls did not consist solely (or perhaps even mainly) of Labour stalwarts with union memberships or party cards.

I hope the caretaker Prime Minister will bear this in mind when he embarks on new reforms of the British constitution. May I suggest that ideally he should call a proper election (i.e. one with David Cameron's colleagues included on the list of candidates) as soon as is reasonable, to acknowledge the right of the British voters to have a PM they actually elected?