Wednesday, June 3 was the day the clock started ticking for Gordon Brown. He had 365 days left before he would be compelled to call an election. The five years of the third Labour government would then be over. But Gordon Brown may not last that long. Indeed he may not be there as prime minister when this article appears on your doorstep. Life in British politics has moved in the very fast, indeed almost Formula One speed lane.

Just two months ago, Brown was hosting the G-20 meeting in London, thinking that he was managing the global recovery. The global recession has been good for Brown. He was down in the dumps during much of 2008 and about to face a leadership challenge from David Miliband in September. Then Lehman Brothers went bust. Brown could display his economic ability. His decision to recapitalise British banks made him a hero. From mid-September to early April, Brown was on the up and Labour’s share in the opinion polls held up in the high 20s, only 10 points behind the Tories.

Nothing has gone right for Brown since the G-20. It all started with a very small matter. Jacqui Smith, the home secretary, was found to have claimed among her allowable expenses as an MP a subscription to a TV channel which showed pornographic films. Her husband who works as her office manager from her home in the constituency confessed to be watching porn films and apologised. But it got worse when it came out that Jacqui Smith was claiming her constituency home as her second home. In London, she lived in a spare room at her sister’s house and put it down as her first home. MPs get a larger allowance for their second homes on the ground that they need one if they live away from London. She had put the more expensive house as her second home getting around £20,000 for mortgage payments and a smaller amount for her first home.

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