Chipping Barnet MP Theresa Villiers reviews the turbulence of 2007 and ponders what will happen at the polls in the coming year.

The new year always provides an opportunity to reflect on the previous 12 months. Of course, during that period, politics has proved to be something of a rollercoaster ride.

The turbulence of opinion polls in the second half of 2007 was one of the most dramatic political turnarounds in modern times.

Everyone expected the Brown bounce, but no one could have predicted the subsequent mighty crash. No party in living memory has seen a ten per cent lead transform into an 11 per cent lead for the opposing party in such a short space of time.

The fact is, Labour has run out of ideas and vision and is struggling to demonstrate basic levels of competence.

Since Mr Brown became Prime Minister, we have seen a catalogue of disasters. First there was the Northern Rock fiasco, causing a run on the first British bank for 150 years.

Then there was the election that never was. For Gordon Brown's claim that it was not the worsening opinion polls that caused him to cancel his election plans is just not credible. I cannot see how anyone could believe him.

Thirdly, there has been a relentless public anger over the loss by HM Revenue & Customs of 25 million sets of personal details. This is the most damaging of all the dramas to hit Mr Brown's Government, because it shows them failing in their basic duty to protect the interests of the people who elected them to run the country.

And the British public has seen the deepening gloom over the economy which has contributed to the dramatic collapse of confidence in Mr Brown's ability to do the top job.

A recent poll in the Times said the number of voters who think the Prime Minister and his Chancellor can be trusted to handle economic problems had more than halved in a little over two months. That has to be a huge blow for a Prime Minister who once claimed the days of "boom and bust" were over.

That said, there is only one poll that counts and who knows what fate has in store for the Government (and the opposition) between now and the next general election?