Ken Clarke: Smoking big gun

The return of Ken Clarke, the former UK chancellor, to the opposition Conservative party front bench should worry Gordon Brown, the prime minister. Clarke is of working class origins and famous for his fondness for a beer and a smoke. He can come over as both a people’s friend and a big-hitter: a man with a grasp of economics who can also speak to the ordinary voter in plain language. Brown has survived the UK’s economic, financial and fiscal slaughter remarkably well, portraying himself as sav...