Gordon Brown has learned that lesson the hard way.

Just 10 months into his dream job as Prime Minister, the job he waited for a decade to claim, he can see all his power slipping away.

Voters in last week's local elections gave Mr Brown and his party a severe bloody nose – and this was no mid-term blues.

This was a protest vote in which local councillors were the sacrificial lambs for Mr Brown's inability to tackle the soaring cost of living and the absurd plans relating to the 10p income tax rate.

People will only take so much before they fight back.

If Mr Brown wants an example from recent history, he need only look back to the hugely unpopular Poll Tax which ruined the Conservative Party in the 1990s.

It can have come as no surprise to Mr Brown that the electorate have decided to send him a very strong message.

He has been powerless to stop a dramatic rise in the cost of fuel as we are held hostage to the decline in the global economy and the oil-producing states.

The so-called Iron Chancellor has been unable to restore any confidence in the money markets and has overseen a significant slow down in the housing market.

He has been unable to quell the rising costs of domestic fuel and grocery bills.

This is a man who, if you believe the commentators, bottled out of a general election last year and has no mandate to be Prime Minister.

There is no suggestion that things would have been better under our old friend Tony – maybe he saw the signs and decided to let his mate Gordon take the fall.

Whatever happened back then, we need strong leadership now.

We need a Prime Minister prepared to stand up and tell the British people that our economy is slowing down and that he has a plan to tackle it.

The bottom line is, we want someone to stand up, show he cares and outline what he plans to do about it. Some good old-fashioned rhetoric is needed to restore confidence and help the economy out of its current slump. Unless he acts soon, things can only get worse for dear old Gordon and the electorate.