what do the public make of it all?

In the eyes of the public, the latest donation scandal to hit the Labour Party courtesy of Peter Hain is extremely damaging.  It is still hard to believe that no-one of any significance lost their job after the previous round of ooops-I-forgot-to-declare-a-large-sum-of-money, but Peter Hain looks vulnerable and will be lucky to keep his cabinet job.
 
The electorate will be unimpressed by another scandal after the shocking run of Labour Party failures towards the end of 2007.  The latest polls certainly support this theory.  But it isn't all sweetness and joy for David Cameron.  In the run-up to the next election, there will undoubtedly be Conservative scandals to contend with.  David Cameron cannot prevent this from happening, nor can anyone else.  The only variable that he can control is how decisively he deals with problems when they arise.  Gordon Brown has considerably increased the damage to his Government by dithering about sacking people.  If Peter Hain (or for that matter Harriet Harman or Wendy Alexander) had been sacked with immediate effect, the headlines would have disappeared.
 
The lesson for David Cameron is simple: crises will happen, scandals will occur - just make damn sure you fire people who need to be fired.

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