Gordon Brown Prime Minister (new entry)

Gordon Brown Prime Minister (new entry), Alistair Darling Chancellor of the Exchequer (6)

Why they are on the list:

Brown leads a Government that has led a virtual vendetta against the pub and brewing industry, while last year we described Darling as the industry's public enemy number one following 2008's swingeing excise duty rise. After this year's duty hike, announced in last month's Budget, trade commentators may have difficulty finding new adjectives to sum up the Chancellor's performance.

However, he remains the one man the trade lobby has to talk to if further pain is not to be inflicted on our pubs and breweries.

What the past year has held:

All pleas to Darling for mercy fell on deaf ears. Many privately doubted whether the intensive trade lobby on beer duty was ever going to persuade the Chancellor to change his mind, but we had to try.

The Treasury collects £44bn per year from alcohol taxes and it's money the Government cannot afford to lose. Brown's cohorts in a variety of different Government departments managed to inflict a mind-boggling stream of financial and bureaucratic red tape on the industry.

Challenges ahead:

This time next year the country will be on the brink of a general election, unless Labour contrives to lose power before then.

Messrs Brown and Darling have major issues at every corner and it's naïve to suggest that the plight of the brewing and pub industry will keep them awake at night.