IF THE result is the one we were all craving, it will be cheered in both Downing Street and Conservative HQ – but, in one of them, the cheers will ring hollow.

The fascinating aspect of the US presidential race on this side of the Atlantic is that both Gordon Brown and David Cameron have been shouting (quietly) for Barack Obama.

Labour’s yearning for the Democrat is no surprise. After all, the parties are closely linked and Tony Blair’s cuddling up to George Bush was simply a shocking aberration.

More interesting is the Tory leader’s enthusiasm because, if some of Mr Cameron’s alleged recent comments are to be believed, he has a big crush on Barack . . .

Assuming Obama has triumphed – I’m tempting fate by penning this before the result is known – the Conservatives will quickly claim it as a victory as for “change”. Change is, after all, also Mr Cameron’s call to arms.

“He was just so incredibly cool,” the Tory leader is reported to have told a friend, after meeting the Democratic candidate a few weeks ago.

But any Conservative claiming Obama as a political ally – and that his victory will neutralise Mr Brown’s “no time for a novice” taunt – has not read his manifesto, because there is nothing in there that will feature in the next Tory offering.

Far from simply being a victory for “change”, Obama’s will be a triumph for the sort of active government that is anathema to Mr Cameron’s “roll back the state” principle.

The Democrat plans tax rises for the super-rich, tougher regulation of the financial system, an Infrastructure Bank to tackle decaying transport systems, job-training programmes in green technologies and much, much more.

And, of course, he opposed the Iraq invasion as a costly mistake – the one for which the Conservatives were even louder cheerleaders than the guilty MPs on the Labour benches.

No, it is Labour who should be cheered by an Obama victory, because it finally spells the end of the disastrous Reagan-Thatcher free-market fundamentalism that has wrought such damage both here and there.

America, the home of cut-throat capitalism, has picked a leader who believes the Government must offer a helping hand – not get out of the way. The Tories should be wondering whether voters here might yet decide to do the same.

HIS nickname is Geoff “Buff” Hoon (get it?), but – after last week’s U-turns on letting councils control bus ser- vices and high-speed – it is time to reassess his reputation.

Buff is shaping up to be a great Transport Secretary. What a shame Ruth Kelly didn’t decide to spend more time with her children long ago.