Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown delivers a keynote speech during the Labour Party National Policy Forum in Coventry. Photograph: Darren Staples/Reuters
Discussions are underway at cabinet level on whether to seek an orderly resignation by Gordon Brown as prime minister, in the wake of the disastrous Labour defeat at the hands of a resurgent SNP in the Glasgow East byelection.
Talks between cabinet ministers took place on the phone yesterday to coordinate a response to the defeat, with renewed pressure being placed on the chief whip, Geoff Hoon, and the justice secretary, Jack Straw, to urge Brown to stand aside. One source said: "The onus is now on Brown to prove that he should stay."
Insiders suggest Brown has until the autumn to prove to a sceptical party he has a strategy to fight the next election that will not leave Labour out of power for a generation. But concerns are expressed at senior cabinet level at failings of the Downing St machine, possible divisions within No 10, and an anxiety the party has been neglected, with some calling for a full-time chairman to restore morale.
Labour's defeat in Glasgow was Brown's third byelection loss in nine weeks, but by far the most humiliating. The SNP overturned a 13,500 Labour majority to clinch the seat by 365 votes, a 22% swing that if replicated at a general election would see only 20 Labour MPs survive.
It is understood Straw is deeply concerned by the defeat in Glasgow, nominally Labour's 25th safest seat and its third strongest in Scotland. The justice secretary, next ranking figure in the cabinet, is not thought to favour a rapid dethronement, since it is possible a party leadership election could leave Labour weakened further, and require the party to stage a general election next year it cannot financially afford. But friends say his primary concern is the welfare of the party, the implication being he might not support Brown indefinitely. Some Blairite MPs spoke of a move against Brown in the autumn, after a period of reflection, but hope the move will come from the cabinet.
A low-key Brown told the national policy forum meeting in Warwick he was fully focused on the job, urging the party to "have confidence" in policies which he said would "persuade" voters to back the party at the next general election. He won the support of his most likely successor, David Miliband, who called on the party to pull together a clear route map to deal with the issues that concern voters - jobs, housing and antisocial behaviour.
But in a sign of a diccpline breakdown, and a weakening of Brown's authority, Paul Kenny, the GMB leader, called for Labour MPs to stage a confidence ballot in the autumn to clear the air. Kenny told MPs: "It is put up or shut up time. They either support Gordon Brown through to the next election, or they actually get rid of him. That is the reality of life. The MPs have got to make a strong decision as to whether they want to go into an election with Gordon Brown or have a [leadership] contest. Labour must change or we are finished."
The call provoked an angry response from John Hutton, the business secretary, asking: "Who are the unions to say this today?"
The union leaders also stepped up the pressure on Brown at the forum to press for a big shift in the government agenda on tax rises, windfall taxes on energy company profits, and a rolling back of the free market in public services.
Ministerial sources claimed they had thought earlier in the week a concordat with the unions had been reached on public services, but overnight, in the wake of the Glasgow defeat, agreements were taken off the table.
With MPs now dispersed for the long summer recess and no single challenger for the Labour crown, Brown has temporary breathing space. In his sombre speech, he sought to lift the battered morale of his party by holding out the threat of a Tory victory in 24 months that would see tax cuts worth £12bn paid for by closing Sure Start centres and ending the school building programme.
He urged his party to "have confidence that not only do we have the right policies, but that when the time comes we will be able to persuade the British people".
The Conservative leader, David Cameron, urged Brown to call a general election. "I think we need change in this country, and that's how change should come about," he said.
Universities secretary John Denham said that changing leader would not solve the concerns that led voters to turn against Labour. "What I think would not help us at the moment is to have that sort of debate. I don't think chopping and changing leaders addresses those concerns. I think it is a bit of illusion."
