Who's the next Labour leader?

Gordon Brown hasn't been having an easy time of late - he's had to put with up talk of an economic meltdown, persistent lagging in the opinion polls and all sorts of general indications that he might not be all that popular. And now it looks like his own party is preparing for the worst.

Obviously not the worst - that would be if Tony Blair turned up at Number 10, tanned and beaming, announcing: "Hey! The Brownster said I could have another go! Where's that map of Iran?". No, no - instead, reports are circulating that certain Labour MPs are "jockeying for position" to take Brown's place, so confident are they that their party will take an absolute hammering in the next election.

According to a senior Labour figure: "Ministers would be better advised to get on with their day jobs and to make sure we win the election rather than plan for a defeat." Looks like he's simply baying at the moon, though, with critics suggesting that Schools Secretary Ed Balls - Brown's own choice as successor - isn't keeping especially good relations with his potential rivals.

Potential rivals like who? Well, the odds seem likely that if a leadership contest was called, Foreign Secretary David Miliband, and Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell would be volunteering from the back of the classroom. Not to mention the surprise candidate. There's always a surprise candidate.

With Brown looking at serious losses in the upcoming May elections, it's probably a very good time to get his house in order. Or at least get one giant carpet to sweep things under.

Written by C J Davies on 9 Apr 2008 12:34 AM. Permalink