Veterans of Labour’s 1997 victory party at the Royal Festival Hall – by the end, the dancefloor looked like a war zone strewn with dozing bodies – will remember the sense of disbelief and excitement as the scale of the landslide started to materialise.
David Hill, the less self-publicity-prone of the hugely effective Labour press team, gave out a deep-throated “what?!” as he reeled away in disbelief at the sight of a startled Stephen Twigg defeating Michael Portillo in Enfield Southgate. That night, unexpected seat after unexpected seat fell into Labour hands.
After 18 years in the wilderness, celebrations did not come any sweeter than this. As the victorious candidates flew down from their constituency counts to greet each other and the now well-established revellers at the Festival Hall, the euphoria overflowed, as did the drink. Gordon Brown even smiled at Peter Mandelson, who found time to dance with John Prescott to the appalling campaign song on repeat, Things Can O
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