THE TELEGRAPH: Gillian Duffy had only popped out to buy a loaf of bread. But by the time she got home, following a chance encounter with the Prime Minister, the 65-year-old widow had become the woman who could seal the outcome of the general election.
Mrs Duffy, a lifelong Labour supporter, had the temerity to tackle Gordon Brown on the national debt, education and his party’s immigration policy.
In return, the Prime Minister branded her a “bigoted woman” in an ill-tempered aside which was caught on a microphone still on his lapel as he was chauffeured away.
Mr Brown’s visit to Rochdale, had been the latest salvo in a new Labour strategy to put him in front of real voters.
It ended with the most disastrous gaffe of the campaign and his party’s election strategy in turmoil.
Within hours, Mr Brown had interrupted his schedule to return to Rochdale, Greater Manchester, where he was forced to make a personal apology to Mrs Duffy.
During an extraordinary address to a live television audience from the grandmother’s driveway he described himself as “a penitent sinner”.
Later, the premier emailed all Labour supporters — including candidates — to make clear his “profound regret” at what he had done.
Coming on the eve of today’s final televised leaders’ debate, some Cabinet ministers privately feared that the blunder had fatally undermined Labour’s campaign.
There was more bad news for Labour when it emerged that Mrs Duffy had been signed up by the PR firm Bell Pottinger, part of a group chaired by Lord Bell, Margaret Thatcher’s favourite PR man. She was thought to have signed an exclusive deal with a tabloid newspaper.
Mr Brown insisted that he was “mortified” by his outburst, claiming he had “misunderstood” what the pensioner had said to him. Mrs Duffy’s family suggested the public had been given an insight into the hypocrisy of the Prime Minister, who had laughed and joked with her in public before insulting her in private when he thought he was no longer being recorded.
Prime Ministerial aides also feared that millions of voters who shared Mrs Duffy’s measured views on immigration, policing, education and the economy would feel slighted by Mr Brown’s remarks. General Election 2010: Gordon Brown's Gillian Duffy 'bigot' gaffe may cost Labour >>> Andrew Porter and Rosa Prince | Wednesday, April 28, 2010
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