Its treatment of the government is politer than many mid-term governments elsewhere would usually expect.That is not how Laszlo Csucs of the Smallholders Partyy, one of the partners in the governing coalition, sees it.
Brown's recent elevation to international statesman with his handling of the financial crisis put paid to that idea even though it was still thought Labour would lose Glenrothes to the SNP - mid-term governments just do.
Removing politicians to some extent takes politics out of it too, and makes sure that any mid-term government unpopularity doesn't pollute the referendum campaign.
The losses likely to be sustained in elections across 180 local authorities would be modest for a mid-term government, they calculated.
The prime minister said the major surprise of the elections had been the Liberal Democrats' poor performance and the Conservative failure to capture more seats in the north in a mid-term government.
Conservative ministers have shrugged off the results as typical for a mid-term government.
Opinion polls have suggested a fall in support for the Liberal Democrats since the 2010 General Election, but Mr Hughes insisted this was a normal part of being a mid-term government and that this year's local elections had "not been good for the Tories either".
In the government's mid term report, which measured progress against their programme for government they said "we have established a national scheme requiring hospitals to share information on gun and knife crime".
"In mid-term in government you are taking difficult decisions.
Delay would increase the risk of a mid-term anti-government backlash.
It's mid-term in government elections, you inevitably get a lower turnout".
