The blink-or-you'll-miss-it honeymoon that Gordon Brown enjoyed last summer seems a lifetime ago. Amidst the Northern Rock fiasco, poll drubbings by the Tories and an economy on the turn, along comes another, devastating blow to the PM's authority: Madam Tussauds has declared that he is "too obscure" to merit a waxwork.

The Marylebone tourist magnet has announced that they will not be making a waxwork of Brown for their World Leaders department, citing his lack of popularity. Judging perhaps that Brown's premiership may not be too long for this world, a museum spokesperson said:

We are going to wait for a general election to see what will happen, because that is the ultimate test of public opinion. We are always continuing to monitor public opinion so if there's a surge of support then we will reconsider.

Gallingly, however, it emerged that just one week ago the museum invited Gordon for a sitting, after declaring him a "hugely popular" choice. Not popular enough, however, and certainly not as popular as his perfidious predecessor Tony Blair, whose likeness is apparently still very much beloved by foreign visitors.

Like a reformed alcoholic getting a sniff of bourbon, the Tories immediately pounced on the news, declaring that Tussauds' decision meant the next election was all but won. However, they clammed up sharpish when asked whether David Cameron had been measured up for a waxwork. Could it be that the general public are more interested in posing next to the fragrant Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz than our oleaginous political elite?

The Tussauds snub comes just months after Alison Jackson was forced to take to the streets in the hunt for a Brown lookalike when nobody showed up at her open auditions. Mentally at least, it seems the people of Britain have condemned Brown's tenure at No. 10 to the past.

Picture courtesy of das kine's Flickrstream