Rebels challenge Brown's leadership

Jan 6 2010

Gordon Brown is facing the prospect of a dramatic challenge to his leadership after two former Cabinet ministers issued a call for the issue to be resolved "once and for all".

In a letter to all Labour MPs and peers, Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt called for a secret ballot of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) on whether there should be a leadership contest.

The call was immediately backed by two of Mr Brown's most prominent backbench critics - former ministers Charles Clarke and Frank Field.

But Tony Lloyd, who chairs the Parliamentary Labour Party, said there was "very little support" for the move, which he dismissed as a "sideshow".

In their letter, Mr Hoon and Mrs Hewitt said the party was "deeply divided" over the leadership and the issue needed to be resolved if it was not to undermine Labour's general election campaign, now less than six months away.

"The continued speculation and uncertainty is allowing our opponents to portray us as dispirited and disunited," they said.

"It is damaging our ability to set out our strong case to the electorate. It is giving our political opponents an easy target."

Mr Hoon and Mrs Hewitt insisted that Mr Brown's supporters should be able to back the plan, as the party would be obliged to fall in behind him if the ballot came out against change.

"This is not an attempted coup," Mrs Hewitt said.

But Mr Lloyd said that they were "wrong" and lacked support in the party for their proposal. "It is not what the Parliamentary Labour Party wants nor, frankly, what the British public wants," he said.