Era. End of.

The Trimdon Labour Club is to close, the Northern Echo reports today. This is a truly historic venue. I was there, on its opening night, 9 July 1993, which was also a celebration of Tony Blair’s 10 years as the local MP. Neil Kinnock conducted the ceremony and I was shocked by the ferocity of his praise for the young shadow home secretary.

The club was the symbolic base of the Famous Five, the group of members of the Sedgefield Labour Party, including Paul Trippett (right), the club’s secretary, who spotted Blair’s potential a decade earlier.

I was there again, on 11 June 1994, when Blair announced he was a candidate for the Labour leadership. And it was there, on 10 May 2007, that he announced he would be standing down as Prime Minister the following month.

He returned on 30 March this year to support Labour’s effort in the coming general election.

That is that. The End.

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