Ask two Blairites when the New Labour project died, and you might get three different answers. The first is June 2007, when Tony Blair stood down as prime minister. The second is May 2008, when the party ran a class-based (and unsuccessful) campaign at the Crewe and Nantwich by-election. While the third is September 2010, when Ed Miliband was elected party leader.
Any of these would work, but I think my new favourite candidate is July 2009, in the midst of the Great Recession, when Gordon Brown stood up at Prime Minister's Questions and claimed that total government spending would rise by "zero per cent" in 2013-14. He never elaborated, his answer drowned out by jeers from the opposition benches.
