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Spinning south

Conflicting reports have emerged about British former Trade and Industry Minister Peter Mandelson’s offer to help the African National Congress 1999 election campaign. The project doesn’t look particularly challenging: most independent analysts reckon the ANC will win a two-thirds majority, even without Mandelson’s advice. Known at home as a spindoctor and dubbed the 'Prince of Darkness', the often abrasive Mandelson is seen as architect of the Labour Party’s 179-seat majority in May 1997. Premier Tony Blair was quoted as saying that one of his political aims was to get Labour ‘to love Peter Mandelson’. Now, he may have to extend that project to South Africa....

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Spinning south

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