EVERY Government goes through a period of unpopularity. Mid-term slumps are a fact of life in politics.

But some administrations never recover.

Gordon Brown was never the same after allowing an election to be hyped in the summer of 2007 and then losing his nerve.

After that, his administration was forever characterised as chaotic, obsessed with opinion polls and operating in a permanent state of crisis.

The danger for David Cameron is that his Government appears to be suffering from the same crisis of competence.

George Osborne’s gaffe-prone budget, the embarrassing collapse of the West Coast rail franchise and a needless abortion row instigated by the new Health Secretary paint a bleak picture.

The unseemly rant at a Downing Street policeman by Chief Whip Andrew Mitchell has reinforced the view that this administration is filled with rich “Tory boys” who say one thing and do another.

A recent survey showed that seven out of ten people oppose Mr Osborne’s cut in the top rate of tax – but the Chancellor dismisses calls for the rich to player a greater part as “the politics of resentment”.

Instead, the cutbacks are having a disproportionate impact on those who can least afford it.

Mr Osborne’s decision to rule out a wealth tax will delight the party faithful but a forward-thinking Government should be appealing to the many, not just the privileged few.