Gordon Brown must have swallowed very, very hard to bring back Peter Mandelson into government. This is real bitter medicine for a prime minister to take to try to revive his standing in the polls and rescue Labour from defeat.
The two have hated each other since Mandy switched from Gordon to Tony in 1994. I know there were cheers from the Brownite camp when Mandelson bit the dust the first time in 1998 after details of his secret loan from former paymaster general Geoffrey Robinson were first revealed to the Guardian.
Brown does get an experienced minister with world-class contacts to handle a desperate economic crunch that is bound to impact on trade and business.
Business should also be pleased to have someone batting for them after such enthusiastic support from John Hutton. Trade unions will be furious since Mandelson is hardly going to be any more helpful to them over work issues, like implementing the working time directive for a maximum 48 hour week, when it comes to a vote at the European parliament later this year.
Mandelson also gets two of his biggest desires - a return to centre stage in British politics, and the chance to get the coveted peerage he has always wanted.
Some of his not so close friends were already suggesting within minutes of his appointment that perhaps Brown should have insisted he stood for Bolton West in place of Ruth Kelly - just to see how popular with the electorate he really is. Backbiting has already begun.
