First call for Brown to go
Bassetlaw MP John Mann has become the first Labour backbencher to publicly call for Gordon Brown to resign.
Mr Mann said that the prime minister should resign as Labour leader before the party’s autumn conference, because of Mr Brown’s lack of popularity on the doorsteps.
“Gordon Brown has had a good run and whilst he was an excellent chancellor he has been seen as a poor prime minister who is out of touch and aloof,” he argued in a post on his website. “Labour lost votes because of this.”
Following reports from a Lib Dem source that Mr Brown had reduced the possibility of a Labour coalition with the Liberal Democrats after an “angry” phone conversation with Nick Clegg, Mr Mann said many voters had refused to back him because of the prime minister.
“Literally, thousands of voters told me that they were happy to vote for me, but it was not a vote for Gordon Brown,” he added.
“Many others stated that they would have voted for me if Gordon Brown was not the prime minister and Labour leader.”
Mr Mann’s share of the vote fell by 0.7% on his 2005 result, leaving him with a comfortable majority of 8,215.
He claimed he had lost votes because of the Labour leader, however, before suggesting Mr Brown was unlikely to lead to a coalition with the Lib Dems.
“Gordon Brown’s continuation as the party’s leader rules out the credibility of a Lib/Lab pact that has to prioritise the modernisation and reform of the antiquated UK political systems, the continued stablilisation of the economy in partnership with the need to protect front line public sector jobs and services,” he argued.
He described the failure of the parliamentary Labour party to be convened as “extraordinary”. Labour politicians continue to await the result of coalition talks between the Conservatives and the Lib Dems.
