To: Prime Minister
From: John McTernan
Date: 5 July 2024
Subject: Five rules for governing
Congratulations! You made it. Glad you took my, “Five Rules for Ruling” (Critic, April 2020) to heart when you sorted out the Labour Party! Now you’re in No 10, it’s time for the Five Rules for Governing — because governing isn’t the same as campaigning. It has a different rhythm. You have to win the electoral cycle not the news cycle.
USE YOUR POWER
You’re in charge — make it count. Prime Minister means exactly what it says — first. That’s why you’re First Lord of the Treasury, after all. You have created a great team in your cabinet — but they are your team and they would not be there without you. Back when you stood for leader none of them thought this was a winnable election — if they had they would have stood. You took the Labour party from 1983 to 1997 in
