Brown coup faces fizzling without new names
(UPDATE: Now includes video of Patricia Hewitt and Geoff Hoon interviews.) This plot desperately needs new names and we wait to see them.
Geoff Hoon, as a former chief whip, knows his way round things, knows very well that previous plots fizzled out and lacked organisation. He would not lightly put his name at the front of this one, I suspect, unless he thought other interesting, fresh names would join in.
As it stands, the momentum is very much with the loyalists. I’ve heard longstanding rebels, one after another, say now is not the time.
A big name or two not previously seen as a rebel would keep this alive. Without it, there is a danger this revolt fizzles out.
Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt both insisted in interviews with me that they had made no contact with any Cabinet minister about today’s letter, not even conversations on a deniable basis, they claimed.
But what a moment. Something like 150 days before a likely election date and senior figures are launching a frontal assault on the party leader.
There’s no precedent I can think of in British politics for such a thing. Only yesterday, Number 10′s trouble scouts thought the coast was pretty clear.
They’re not in meltdown, but they’re angry and waiting to see if Geoff and Patricia have any more shots to fire.
Related: Cabinet ministers in new plot to oust Brown
There are 3 comments on this post
Labour are too pathetic to organise a coup. They can’t govern this country what makes any of them sure they can govern a coup! Pathetic although I fully support any coup just to see Gordon Brown out of Number 10 (that Man has Wrecked this country!)
Labour have been failing to address their leadership issues for several years, always backing down from sorting the problem. However, as it also has a major impact on everybody in the country, their failure to sort it out has left the country with poor leadership and associated problems.
Labour’s failure to address this and get us all a decent leader reflects badly on them. It is not too late to sort this out and would probably cause the Conservatives big problems (subject to who they changed to). As it stands the result is predictable and they all know what will happen. Their main problem is is how much Brown wants to cling to every second of power.
Lets face it Labour only knows how to spend money they havent got and eventually cost us all dear..They ,or Gordon,in particular has squandered a golden inheritance and put us in hock for Trillions of pounds.Yet he proclaims he is the only person who can get us out of the mess he has made.They are all frit to oust him , frit to go to the country and deserve to never be seen as a viable party again.