View Full Version : Gordon Brown quits as Labour Leader
Gordon Brown has announced he will resign as Prime Minister in the autumn even if Labour and the Liberal Democrats form a coalition government.
Mr Brown said he had asked the Labour Party to begin preparations for a leadership contest in which he will “play no part”.
His announcement on the steps of Downing Street was an attempt to woo the Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg by offering his own resignation as a key plank of any deal.
But Mr Brown also made it clear that he would expect to stay on as Prime Minister for a few more months in order to put in place his programme for economic recovery.
In the most dramatic twist since the election results were announced, Mr Brown admitted that Labour’s defeat “is a judgment on me.”
He said: “If it becomes clear that the national interest can be best served by forming a coalition between Labour and the Liberal Democrats then I believe I should discharge that duty to form that government which would in my view command a majority in Parliament in the Queen’s Speech and any other confidence votes.
“But I have no desire to stay in my position longer than is needed to ensure the path to economic growth is assured and the path to economic reform we have agreed moves forward quickly.
“The reason we have a hung parliament is that no single party and no single leader was able to win the full support of the country.
“As the leader of my party I must accept that that is a judgment on me.
“I therefore intend the ask the Labour Party to set in train the processes needed for its own leadership election. I would hope it would be completed in time for the new leader to be in post by the time of the Labour Party conference.
“I will play no part in that contest, I will back no individual candidate.”
Mr Brown piled pressure on the Conservative leader David Cameron by announcing that Nick Clegg “now also wishes to take forward formal discussions with the Labour Party”.
He also re-iterated his commitment to electoral reform, which would also include “reform of the House of Lords”.
If Mr Brown’s plan came to fruition, it would mean the country being led by a second successive unelected Labour Prime Minister.
Lord Adonis, the Transport Secretary, said: “Labour and the Liberal Democrats are very close together. This will be a partnership of principle.
“We would go into these negotiations determined to succeed. Fifteen million people voted for Labour and the Liberal Democrats combined, only ten million voted for the Conservatives.”
Alastair Campbell, the former Downing Street communications chief, rejected accusations that a second unelected Prime Minister would be undemocratic, saying: “It’s a parliamentary democracy, not a presidential system. The Prime Minister is chosen by parliament.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/gordon-brown/7706876/Gordon-Brown-to-resign-as-Prime-Minister-as-Labour-and-Lib-Dems-prepare-for-talks.html
GORDON Brown has announced his resignation as Prime Minister on the steps of 10 Downing Street.
Tory leader David Cameron is expected to meet the Queen tomorrow to form a new government.
Mr Brown said it had been "a privilege to serve" and wished his successor well.
The PM, his voice cracking with emotion, also said he was resigning immediately as Labour leader.
He then left Downing Street for Buckingham Palace holding hands with his wife Sarah and sons John and Fraser.
Gordon Brown
Going? ... Grim-faced Gordon Brown today
Mr Brown has told friends he now plans to resign as an MP and leave politics altogether.
Today's talks between Labour and the Liberal Democrats — Brown's last chance to keep power — "never got off the ground", party sources revealed.
At 5.30pm, Lib Dem Deputy Leader Vince Cable was reported as saying a deal was "very, very close to being done".
Tory backbencher Nigel Evans said Conservative MPs had been put on standby for a meeting tonight. The Lib Dems are also planning a meeting at 7.30pm tonight.
The Lib Dems resumed talks with the Tories about forming a coalition government this afternoon after Mr Cameron told Nick Clegg: "It's decision time."
The parties met after it was revealed that while Lib Dem and Labour negotiators were locked in discussions this morning, Mr Clegg was in a 45 minute, face-to-face talk with the Tory leader.
An unconfirmed report in an evening newspaper and on Sky News suggested that Mr Brown might stand down as PM as early as this evening, while the BBC reported that cases were being packed into vehicles at the rear of Downing Street.
Newly-elected Labour MP Michael Dugher — an adviser to Mr Brown until the election — said the party needed to accept the verdict of the electorate.
"It said that we don't want you to be in government any more, we don't think you deserve a majority in Parliament any more," he told Sky News.
"I think that we do need to listen to what the voters said."
The Lib Dems have been talking to the Tories and Labour about the possibility of a power sharing pact for FIVE days since last Thursday's inconclusive general election.
Conservative negotiator William Hague said before this afternoon's meeting: "As you know, we believe very strongly there should be a government with a strong and secure majority in the House of Commons and, of course, an elected prime minister.
Clegg
Decision time ... Nick Clegg
"We remain very, very firmly of that view. We set out our proposals to achieve that yesterday and we have come here to hear the Liberal Democrat response."
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, a member of the Labour negotiation team, had earlier described this morning's discussions with the Lib Dems as "constructive".
Speaking outside 10 Downing Street moments after the new Tory-Lib Dem talks were announced, Mr Miliband said: "I think there are many points of agreement ... I thought there was a good atmosphere and a good constructive basis for our discussions."
But a grim-faced Lord Mandelson said nothing as he left No10 this afternoon and ignored reporters' questions about the fate of the talks.
Mr Cameron appealed to Mr Clegg to make "the right decision" this morning after Mr Brown's resignation as Labour leader last night left the door open for a Lib-Lab coalition.
This morning Mr Clegg refused to say whether an announcement would be made today — but spoke of his "impatience".
He said: "The discussions between the political parties has now reached a critical and final phase.
"I'm as impatient as anybody else to get on with this, to resolve matters one way or another."
As he left his home in west London this morning, Mr Cameron called on Mr Clegg to act "quickly".
He said: "I've made a very full, very open, very reasonable offer to the Liberal Democrats to deliver that stable government.
"My own Members of Parliament have shown that they are prepared to put aside party interest in the national interest by agreeing a referendum on the Alternative Vote.
"It's now, I believe, decision time - decision time for the Liberal Democrats - and I hope they make the right decision to give this country the strong, stable government that it badly needs and it badly needs quickly."
Senior Lib Dem MP Simon Hughes said he hoped a deal could be struck today.
But he also indicated that the party were holding out for further concessions from Labour as the price for a centre-left coalition.
He said this morning: "Labour need to think further and go further before there will be any prospect of any arrangement with them.
"I think we know what the Conservatives' offer is, they've made that public, they've made public what they are saying about a referendum on a form of change to the voting system.
"They've moved positively and constructively on other things, including fair taxation.
"We are waiting really to see whether Labour are willing to make progressive suggestions."
David Blunkett earlier warned that any "coalition of the defeated" would spell electoral disaster for the Labour Party and accused the Liberal Democrats of acting like "every harlot in history".
The former home secretary said that, if the party continued to refuse to listen to the electorate, it would "lose very badly" at the next general election.
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The Lib Dems were today considering a fresh offer from Conservatives of a referendum on the Alternative Vote system for Westminster elections.
Asked about the prospects of a coalition with the Lib Dems, Mr Blunkett said: "I don't like what is taking place at all."
He added: "I don't believe it will bring stability, I believe it will lead to a lack of legitimacy, and I think the British people will feel that we have not heard what they said to us, which, in the tragedy of 91 of my colleagues losing their seats, was that we didn't have their full confidence."
He went on: "If we continue not listening then we will lose very badly at any subsequent general election.
"That would be even worse than a situation where we have a minority government in which we check what they do, whilst acting responsibly in the interests of the nation."
He questioned if the Lib Dems could be trusted, asking: "Can you trust the Liberal Democrats? They are behaving like every harlot in history."
He suggested party negotiators were now living in "what is increasingly looking like a bunker".
Asked what was in the interests of the Labour Party, Mr Blunkett said: "A coalition of the defeated cobbled together, uncertain whether it can carry anything night by night, people, as they did when I first came to Parliament, dying on average about once every three months because of the nature of the sittings, and a then general election on the back of that - you don't have to be involved in politics to see what that would do to the Labour Party and its vote."
Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/election2010/2968141/Its-D-Day.html#ixzz0neFG2iie
David Cameron is now Prime Minister of UK
Him and Clegg look alike its scary!
Wonder whose going to be the new labour leader, not a fan of any of them they have mentioned so far. Im just hoping its not one oif the Millibands.
Chloe O'brien
15-05-2010, 03:09
I know I'm going to be in a bad mood for the next four years. If the Tories are to rule the country because they got the most votes then fine, but Nick Clegg and his army should never be in the cabinet. have been really emotional siince last Thursday. I will always be a Labour voter and it should be about policies not public votes..
Former energy secretary Ed Miliband will set out his vision for the future of Labour in a speech which will effectively launch his campaign for the party's leadership. S
Mr Miliband is not expected to formally announce his intention to challenge elder brother David for the leadership until next week, but he told his constituency party in Doncaster North on Friday night that he would stand.
In his speech to the Fabian Society in London, he will admit that Labour lost the election because "we lost touch with the lives of the people we represent. We lost touch with the progressive ideals that characterised the earlier years of the government".
Labour needs to "rediscover our sense of mission" to help millions of people struggling to make ends meet on modest incomes, he will say.
The party had lost its "radical edge" in power, particularly in dealing with the banks, he will say. "Our response on the excesses of the banks - and the role of the nationalised banks - has not been all it could be.
"We should have done more to take the opportunity to rethink the banking system and to show our determination to tackle what had gone wrong," he says.
Mr Miliband will say that he joined Labour at the age of 17 "because of a sense of anger at the injustices of our world, and a sense that my parents instilled that we had a duty to do something about them. Above all, a belief that the Labour Party is the best vehicle, the best hope for progressive change in this country".
And he will say: "This is as true today as it was when I joined. Let us use the opportunity of this leadership campaign to begin the road back to power."
A source close to Mr Miliband confirmed that he told local activists that he would stand against his brother for the leadership.
He had been planning to announce his candidacy next week, but it leaked out via a message on Twitter sent by a constituency Labour Party member.
parkerman
16-05-2010, 08:00
but Nick Clegg and his army should never be in the cabinet.
I believe Nick Clegg was the man who said repeatedly during the election campaign that if the Labour Party came third in the popular vote, then Gordon Brown had no right to stay in office.
Let me see, which party came third and who is now deputy prime minister????
Ed Miliband is the new Labour leader, it has been announced at a special conference in Manchester.
He beat brother David by the wafer thin margin of 50.65% to 49.35% after second, third and fourth preference votes came into play.
Ed Balls was third, Andy Burnham fourth and Diane Abbott last in the ballot of Labour members and trade unionists.
Mr Miliband, 40, replaces acting leader Harriet Harman in the contest triggered by the resignation of Gordon Brown.
He paid tribute to each of his fellow candidates in turn and told the conference: "Today we draw a line under this contest and move forward united as a team."
The shadow energy secretary appears to have benefited from a last-minute surge of support before voting in the postal ballot closed on Wednesday.
Older brother David won a majority of support from Labour's MPs at Westminster, but appears to have been defeated due to Ed's dominance among trade unions and grassroots activists in Labour's electoral college voting system.
BBC political editor Nick Robinson said in the first three rounds of voting David Miliband was ahead - it was only when votes were reallocated as the other candidates were knocked out that his younger brother was pushed over the winning line.
Mr Miliband hugged David after the result was announced. In his victory speech, he vowed to unify the party, telling delegates "The Labour Party in the future must be a vehicle that doesn't just attract thousands of young people but tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of young people who see us as their voice in British politics today."
He paid tribute to his predecessors Gordon Brown and Tony Blair, but added: "We lost the election and we lost it badly. My message to the country is this: I know we lost trust, I know we lost touch, I know we need to change.
"Today a new generation has taken charge of Labour, a new generation that understands the call of change."
He added: "Today's election turns the page because a new generation has stepped forward to serve our party and in time I hope to serve our country. Today the work of the new generation begins."
Mr Miliband received a standing ovation from delegates as he made his way from the hall, with David at his side.
BBC News
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