Gordon Brown to Resign: A Very Labour Coup
THE TELEGRAPH: Gordon Brown has been accused of a “sordid” attempt to keep Labour in power after offering his resignation in return for a coalition with the Liberal Democrats.



On a day of high political drama, Mr Brown seized on David Cameron’s failure to secure a pact with Nick Clegg by opening formal talks to agree a so-called “coalition of losers”.

In a surprise announcement, the Prime Minister offered to oversee talks between the two parties before stepping down by the time of the Labour conference in September, when a new leader would be chosen by party members.

If accepted, the proposal would mean Mr Brown remaining in Downing Street for another five months and voters being presented with a second unelected prime minister in a row.

The leadership campaign, which is likely to be contested by David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, his brother Ed, the Climate Change Secretary, and Ed Balls, the Schools Secretary, and others, will only begin after any talks are concluded.

Last night senior Conservatives accused the Lib Dem leader of “treachery” after it emerged that Mr Clegg had changed the basis of a deal with Mr Cameron just minutes before Mr Brown made his statement.

John Reid, the former Labour Home Secretary, warned that a Labour-Lib Dem coalition would result in “mutually assured destruction” for both parties. >>> Andrew Porter, Political Editor | Monday, May 10, 2010

Gordon Brown Clings On: A Bleak Day for British Democracy
THE TELEGRAPH: Telegraph View: The Liberal Democrats are holding the country to ransom while an unelected leader of the Labour Party remains Prime Minister.

It is a measure of Gordon Brown’s loose grip on reality that he sought to depict his decision to stand down later this year as a noble act of self-sacrifice made in the national interest. The truth is that this was an act of quite staggering cynicism based on naked party advantage. With the incomprehensible connivance of Nick Clegg – whose reputation will surely never recover – Mr Brown is effectively seeking to nullify the result of last week’s general election. Blinded by his tribal loathing of the Conservatives, he is ready to risk everything – and we use that term advisedly – to keep David Cameron out of Downing Street.

This unelected leader of the Labour Party will remain Prime Minister, even though his party secured two million fewer votes and 48 fewer seats than the Tories. He will then hand over at a time of his choosing to a new Labour leader. At that point, the United Kingdom will find itself governed by a Labour prime minister the country has not elected, succeeding a Labour prime minister neither the country nor his party elected. Even by Labour’s standards, this is self-serving and unscrupulous. >>> | Monday, May 10, 2010

Strong? Stable? He's Got to Be Kidding
THE TELEGRAPH– BLOGS: Nick Clegg said the party that won the most seats and votes should have first go. He said he wanted to ensure strong and stable government in the national interest. He made plain he has little personal time for Mr Brown. His mentor Lord Ashdown on Sunday said Mr Brown was personally unsuited to coalition. David Laws said a few hours ago that the Lib Dems and Conservatives were down to negotiating over specific policy details, but a deal was near. How then will they explain themselves if, as Gordon Brown has announced, they are now negotiating a coalition of the losers with Labour? Read on and comment >>> Benedict Brogan | Monday, May 10, 2010

Gordon Brown Speaks


TIMES ONLINE: Brown quits as Labour leader to thwart Tory-Lib Dem pact : Gordon Brown announced tonight that he is to step down as Labour leader but wants to remain in No 10 for a few more months as part of a coalition deal with the Liberal Democrats.

Playing Labour's final card after an extraordinary weekend of post-election wrangling, the Prime Minister announced that the Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg had formally asked for negotiations to begin on a power-sharing deal with Labour. >>> Philippe Naughton | Monday, May 10, 2010

Breaking News! Gordon Brown Says He Will Resign As Leader
SKY NEWS: Gordon Brown has said he will step down as leader as Nick Clegg asks for talks between Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

In a statement outside Downing Street, Mr Brown said he had "no desire to stay in my position longer than needed" and would leave by the party conference in September.

He said he will ask the Labour Party to begin the process for a leadership election but that he will not stand or intervene. >>> Ruth Barnettt, Sky News Online | Monday, May 10, 2010

Gordon Brown 'Launched Telephone Rant' at Nick Clegg
THE TELEGRAPH: Gordon Brown launched a "diatribe" and a "rant" at Nick Clegg during a telephone call with the Liberal Democrat leader after it was suggested he should resign, it was reported today.



The BBC reported the confrontation based on remarks by a "very senior Lib Dem source who is involved in the negotiations with the Conservatives".

The source told the BBC's Jon Sopel that during the leaders' conversation last night, the tone went "downhill" at the mention of resignation.

It was claimed Mr Brown's approach was to begin "a diatribe" and "a rant" and the source said the Labour leader was "threatening in his approach to Nick Clegg".

Mr Clegg was said to have came off the phone assured that it would be impossible to work with Brown because of his attitude towards working with other people.

Number 10 have denied the report of Brown's aggression, describing the chat as "constructive".

In contrast, the Lib Dem source said discussions between Mr Clegg and David Cameron, the Conservative leader, had been "convivial"[.] >>> | Saturday, May 08, 2010

THE TELEGRAPH: The day that changed politics forever: When Gordon Brown called the general election for May 6, all three main parties believed they knew what the country wanted. But the voters had other ideas, says Matthew d’Ancona. >>> Matthew d’Ancona | Saturday, May 08, 2010

Blairites Rally Round Brown in Desperate Effort to Keep Tories Out
TIMES ONLINE: A measure of the determination, or perhaps desperation, with which Gordon Brown clings to power can be found in the counsel he chose when writing his post-election statement yesterday.

“Am back in my old office!” Alastair Campbell announced, with suitable incredulity, to friends in a text message from deep inside Downing Street over lunchtime.

He joined Lord Mandelson and Lord Adonis — those most pluralist of peers — to help the Prime Minister to draft words that could yet pave the way for the completion of what some call the “new Labour mission” but others have ridiculed as a wild Blairite fantasy.

There remain many obstacles to a “progressive majority” coalition with the Lib Dems, not least the reluctance of Nick Clegg himself. But the speed and confidence with which Labour has begun to navigate this uncharted terrain may just develop enough momentum to make it traversable.

The Conservatives had hoped that Labour would react to the loss of 90 seats — and a share of the vote that would have made Michael Foot blush — with the self-destructive mutual recrimination in which the party has so often indulged. >>> Tom Baldwin | Saturday, May 08, 2010

Gordon Brown - Flawed, Failed, Finished.
THE TELEGRAPH: As Gordon Brown clings on to power, his biographer Anthony Seldon delivers his damning verdict on our flawed prime minister

'I did not foresee it,” Gordon Brown was heard to say on May 7, 2010. But then the Gordon Brown story is a Shakespearean tragedy of King Lear proportions. Like King Lear, he lashes out in all directions, now berating, now making sycophantic overtures, a desperate figure clinging by his nails to the vestiges of power. Like Lear, he demeans himself, and fails to see the truth, a truth evident to those all around him.

As John Major said, his remaining in office is beginning to look undignified: quite fairly, the former Tory prime minister observed that his own loss in 1997 was nothing like as severe as Brown’s. He should really, added Major, have taken himself off to watch the cricket by now.

True, Labour avoided falling into third place, and with it the ignominy of achieving its poorest result since 1918. But achieving just 29 per cent of the vote, and losing 90 seats, was still its worst result since 1983, when the party was led by Michael Foot. And however the next few days play out – whether Nick Clegg strikes a deal with David Cameron or even if he opens talks with senior figures in Labour – one thing is certain: Brown is a dead man walking. >>> Anthony Seldon | Friday, May 07, 2010

Gordon Brown: Willing to Talk with Clegg

General Election 2010: Hung Parliament Is a Certainty as Final Results Trickle In
THE TELEGRAPH: A hung parliament is now a certainty as the final votes across the country are counted up.



It could be days before the final make-up of government is decided. Nick Clegg has offered few hints as to whether he would participate in a Labour or Conservative alliance. David Cameron is "happy to talk" with other parties, including the Liberal Democrat leader, according to Michael Gove the shadow education secretary.

He said: "It is certainly the case that David Cameron is happy to talk to people in other parties in order to ensure that we can have a strong, stable, Conservative-led government to provide the country with the change it needs."

He added: "I stress it is for David Cameron to decide with whom we should work. We do not yet know the basis on which the new Parliament will be constructed entirely, we don't know the precise arithmetic."

Meanwhile senior Labour ministers have begun making overtures to Gordon Brown themselves.

Asked if Labour would do a deal to stay in power, Lord Mandelson said: “The constitutional conventions are very clear. The rules are that if it’s a hung parliament, it’s not the party with the largest number of seats that has first go - it’s the sitting government.”

Pressed again on whether he would do a deal with the Lib Dems to hold on to power, he said: “I have no problem in principle in trying to supply this country with a strong and stable government.”

David Cameron called on Gordon Brown to stand aside today after the Tories made significant gains across England and Wales in the closest general election for a generation. >>> Andrew Porter and Robert Winnett | Friday, May 07, 2010

Britain Wakes Up to a Hung Parliament
Gordon Brown arrives back at Downing Street. Photo: Times Online
TIMES ONLINE: Gordon Brown was back in Downing Street today as Britain woke to the uncertainties of its first hung Parliament for 36 years.

As counting wrapped up in the few dozen seats yet to declare, David Cameron's Tories were on course to become the largest party in the Commons but about 20 seats short of the 326 needed for a majority.

Mr Brown made clear that he had no intention of giving up power easily – his passage through Britain's most famous front door at 7am was a symbolic reminder that he remains Prime Minister and has the constitutional right to form a government.

Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, admitted that his party had had a disappointing night, losing seats to both the Tories and Labour despite the excitement it had generated during the campaign.

He may yet emerge as a kingmaker, however, from a wildly unpredictable night in which the biggest dramas were in seats held against the odds rather than trophy scalps. >>> Philippe Naughton and Roland Watson | Friday, May 07, 2010

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Victoire sans majorité pour les conservateurs de David Cameron : Les conservateurs sont bien arrivés en tête, mais sans majorité absolue selon des résultats provisoires, rien n’indique que ce sera leur leader David Cameron qui occupera le 10 Downing street. >>> AP | Vendredi 07 Mai 2010

NZZ ONLINE: Die Briten haben gewählt – aber nicht entschieden: Cameron in Führung ohne absolute Mehrheit – Brown will bleiben >>> spi. | Freitag, 07. Mai 2010

In Britain, It Feels Like Election Day 1974

THE GLOBE AND MAIL: With 40 per cent of voters undecided and the resurgent third-place Liberals likely to keep either the Conservatives or Labour from a majority, PM Gordon Brown faces a frighteningly familiar situation

The British Prime Minister, devastated by an economic meltdown that has left his country swimming in debt, scarred by rising fuel prices and a series of strikes, has found his re-election hopes sideswiped by a young, charismatic Liberal whose third-place party has suddenly risen to big-party popularity levels. The Prime Minister, desperate to hold onto power, prepares to form a coalition government with the Liberals even if his party comes in second.

That was Britain in 1974 – an amazingly familiar scenario that terrifies British voters as they go to the polls Thursday.

With almost 40 per cent of voters undecided on election eve and a resurgent third-place Liberal Democratic Party likely to prevent either the Conservatives or Labour from winning a majority, there is a good chance that Friday morning will be a jarring repeat of 1974.

And voters know how that story goes. The Liberal Leader, in exchange for backing the minority government, demands a referendum to switch to a proportional-representation voting system, which would prevent the big parties from ever having majorities again. The pact collapses after days, there’s another election, followed by five years of disarray and misery.

Back then, it was Tory Prime Minster Edward Heath who tried to turn his second-place finish into a coalition government, failed, and punted the country into the long grass. Liberal Leader Jeremy Thorpe turned his centrist party into coalition kingmakers – or spoilers, depending on your perspective – for the rest of the 1970s, an era that saw Britain spiral into near-total economic shutdown, unmanageable debt, and a Greek-style bailout from the International Monetary fund. >>> Doug Saunders | Published Wednesday, May 05, 2010; Updated Thursday, May 06, 2010

THE GLOBE AND MAIL: A jealous love triangle waits to erupt in the U.K. >>> Doug Saunders | Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Vorzeitiger Abgesang auf Gordon Brown: Der Premierminister wird nun auch in den eigenen Reihen verschmäht
NZZ ONLINE: Rastlos reisen die britischen Parteichefs noch durch die Lande, um letzte Wählerstimmen zu gewinnen. Gordon Brown erscheint immer mehr auf verlorenem Posten. Ein Kandidat der eigenen Partei nennt ihn gar den «schlechtesten Premier» aller Zeiten.

Gordon Browns Chancen auf einen Sieg sind gesunken. Bild: NZZ Online
Am letzten Tag vor den britischen Parlamentswahlen legen die Parteiführer noch den üblichen Endspurt hin und hasten von Rede zu Rede, schütteln unzählige Hände und beantworten Bürgerfragen. Der Vorsitzende der Konservativen, David Cameron, soll die Nacht durchgemacht haben, Labour-Parteichef Gordon Brown und der Liberaldemokrat Nick Clegg waren schon im Morgengrauen auf den Beinen. >>> Ruth Spitzenpfeil | Mittwoch, 05. Mai 2010

Trust Me, I'm Nick Clegg: How the Also-ran Stole the Show
THE GUARDIAN: Nick Clegg has one great advantage over his Tory rival: no one raises the question of his sincerity

Nick Clegg, pictured in Liverpool with Kay Cummins, who has leukaemia, has drawn large, enthusiastic crowds. Photograph: The Guardian
Spend a few weeks following the leaders of the three main parties and you soon realise that – regardless of the results of tomorrow's vote — a hierarchy has emerged in this campaign. When Gordon Brown turns up somewhere, he's lucky if there's more than a smattering of party faithful ready to greet him, perhaps two dozen souls holding the odd placard. That could be a function of his security arrangements, with details of his travel not released in advance, or it could be a commentary on his public standing. But the harsh truth is that a visit from Brown generates little hoopla.

Next up the pecking order comes David Cameron. There's always a healthy number of people at his events, usually arranged photogenically – white men in suits nudged out of shot; those who are young, female, black or Asian ushered to the front – and reliably ready with a cheer. But the suspicion lingers that the crowd has not exactly gathered spontaneously, that it has been convened through diligent advance work.

And then there's Nick Clegg. When he pops up, there can be up to 400 people waiting for him – even on a rainy morning in Lewisham, south London. Sure, that's a tribute to the Liberal Democrats' famous knack for pavement politics and, admittedly, the local party had a week to organise its people. But that doesn't explain the large number standing in the cold who are neither party members nor even past Lib Dem voters. Nor does it explain the crowd of onlookers across the street, waiting for the speaker to arrive, nor the people in the flats overlooking the common who open their windows to see the show. >>> Jonathan Freedland | Wednesday, May 04, 2010

David Miliband ‘Bid to Be Labour Leader’
METRO: A secret campaign to replace Gordon Brown with David Miliband is reportedly being waged by Peter Mandelson and Tony Blair.

The bid is also thought to have the backing of home secretary Alan Johnson, defence secretary Bob Ainsworth and Olympics minister Tessa Jowell, meaning he could be installed as soon as Friday. >>> | Tuesday, May 04, 2010

THE TELEGRAPH – BLOG: Gordon Brown: I'll quit, but I won't cash in like Tony Blair >>> James Kirkup | Tuesday, May 04, 2010

LYNN NEWS: Labour man blasts his own party leader

NORTH-west Norfolk's Labour candidate has blasted Gordon Brown, calling him "the worst Prime Minister" Britain has ever had.

Speaking from his Leicester home, Manish Sood (38), told the Lynn News: "Immigration has gone up which is creating friction within communities. The country is getting bigger and messier.

"The role of ministers has gone bureaucratic and the action of ministers has gone downhill – it is corrupt.

"The loss of social values is the basic problem and this is not what the Labour Party is about.

"I believe Gordon Brown has been the worst Prime Minister we have had in this country.

"It is a disgrace and he owes an apology to the people and the Queen." Brown is 'worst PM ever' says Labour candidate >>> Sophie Wyllie | Tuesday, May 04, 2010

Gordon Brown: We Need a World Constitution!

Britain, Your Election Is Pure – But Who Would Want to Win It?
THE GUARDIAN: Jacob Weisberg, a US journalist, took a hack's holiday in the UK and saw all three contenders for a job he describes as miserable

Jacob Weisberg: 'It is going to be an ugly process, whether led by a grim Scot, a shiny Etonian, or Brussels man.' Photograph: The Guardian
Since arriving in London last week for a hack's holiday, I have been asked several times: do Americans care about the British election? The truthful answer is that no, we don't, mainly because we haven't developed a relationship with any of the candidates. Unlike during the Blair-Clinton years, there is no fraternal bond between New Labour and the Democrats. Unlike during the Blair-Bush years, there's no prayerful union between PM and president.

What's more, it's difficult to argue that America should care who wins. To one who lived here in the late Thatcher era, the range of policies proposed by the three parties is surprisingly narrow. What differences exist have few implications for the United States. It might give pause in Washington that Nick Clegg failed in the debates to respond to Gordon Brown's charge of anti-Americanism, but no one has yet registered a meaningful threat to the special relationship.

Nonetheless, the British election compels American attention, for two reasons. The first is simply as sport. However small the stakes for us, this has turned into a fine drama, with an uncertain outcome on 6 May and the uncharted possibility of a hung parliament thereafter. The second is what we have to learn from the way elections are still conducted here. Our American campaigns have gone decadent, becoming spectacles of horrifying length and expense, characterised by 30-second attack ads, a class of parasitic professionals and a running media freakshow.

Yours feel, by contrast, pure. They are swift (four weeks!), substantive, and not entirely driven by fundraising. Spouses are treated as human beings and allowed their own lives. The electorate is informed and engaged. The candidates are more spontaneous and accessible. The Lib Dems >>> Jacob Weisberg* | Sunday, May 02, 2010

*Jacob Weisberg is chairman of the Slate Group and the author of The Bush Tragedy

General Election 2010: Nick Clegg Defends Immigration Policy
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Nick Clegg said he was ''incredibly angry'' with David Cameron and Gordon Brown over attacks on his party's immigration policy.

The Liberal Democrats' plans to allow illegal immigrants who have been in the UK for 10 years to earn citizenship has been labelled an ''amnesty'' by their political rivals on their election campaigns.

But Mr Clegg today said he was the only party leader with the ''courage'' to confront a chaotic system which had been allowed to exist under successive Labour and Conservative administrations.

Mr Clegg said: ''It makes me incredibly angry that David Cameron and Gordon Brown create a problem ... and are perfectly happy to turn a deaf ear to criminal gangs running amok in our community.

''I'm the only leader who actually wants to do something about it.''

The issue of immigration has been raised throughout the campaign and was the subject of a question in each of the three leaders' debates.

In the final televised showdown Mr Cameron claimed 600,000 illegal immigrants could be given the right to remain and bring a family member to the UK under the Lib Dem proposals.

Speaking to reporters at a campaign event in Burnley, Mr Clegg hit out at the way opponents ''wholly misrepresent'' his plan.

He said: ''Given that neither David Cameron nor Gordon Brown want to actually clear up the mess they created, they don't want to be honest with you.

''I think it's right that the Liberal Democrats are saying we have got to do something about this.

''Do you know what I want? I want to go after the criminal gangs. >>> | Sunday, May 02, 2010

The Immigration Experiment Shows Labour at Its Worst
THE TELEGRAPH: A significant social change was foisted on Britain without our consent, says Alasdair Palmer

Gordon Brown has apologised profusely for calling Gillian Duffy "bigoted" after she asked him what he was going to do about immigration. But for all his very public penitence, Mr Brown's initial reaction reveals what he really thinks of those who are sceptical about immigration's benefits.

The number of people coming to stay in Britain is now nearly four times greater than in 1997: every year, at least 130,000 more people have arrived than left (in 2007, the figure was 248,000). If present trends continue, Britain's population will reach 70 million within the next 20 years.

The influx of migrants, many of whom are not familiar with British norms and traditions – and who have traditions of their own that they are, understandably, not ready to abandon – has already had very significant effects on many communities. Some people like those changes, especially those who employ cleaners, nannies and builders, and who can afford to eat at exotic restaurants. Others don't. Their reaction doesn't have to be based on bigotry, although of course it can be. But you don't have to be a bigot to deplore more overcrowding in schools, or more pressure on housing, health services and transport.

The huge increase in immigration has taken place almost without discussion. It was not mentioned in Labour's manifesto in 1997, nor in 2001. In 2005, it rated scarcely more than a few lines. When Michael Howard, the then Conservative leader, tried to make the subject an election issue, he was accused of racism by Labour – and, of course, "bigotry". The charge was effective in closing down the debate. >>> Alasdair Palmer | Saturday, May 01, 2010

Tony Blair flies to the rescue. Photo courtesy of ‘The Telegraph’
Puff the Magic Bliar!
THE TELEGRAPH: Tony Blair has denied that Gordon Brown had been a "failure" as Prime Minister, despite Mr Brown's apparent admission that Labour was heading for defeat in the General Election

Visiting Harrow in north-west London, Mr Blair insisted Labour still had "every chance of succeeding" in the general election.

Questioned about whether Mr Brown had failed in his time at Number 10, he said: "No I don't think he's failed at all."

Asked about the prospect that the party could come third in the share of the vote on May 6, the former PM replied: "I don't believe that will happen. I believe Labour has every chance of succeeding." General Election 2010: Tony Blair denies Gordon Brown has 'failed' >>> Robert Winnett, Andrew Porter and Murray Wardrop | Friday, April 30, 2010

Cameron and Clegg Tie on Final Debate, with Brown Left Behind
TIMES ONLINE: David Cameron and Nick Clegg ended up neck and neck in the final debate, leaving Gordon Brown trailing well behind in third place, according to a Populus online poll for The Times.

The poll, of 1,929 voters who watched last night’s debate, confirms that the Tories have the initiative in the campaign, but the Lib Dems will be delighted that Mr Clegg has held up his level of support for the second week, following his victory a fortnight ago.

Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg were seen as winners by 38 per cent, similar to last week’s 37/36 per cent margin. Mr Brown was seen as the winner by just 25 per cent, against 27 per cent in the second debate. The figures have been rounded up to the nearest point.

The dead heat contrasts with other polls which show Mr Cameron as the winner over Mr Clegg by 2 to 9 points. Mr Clegg is ahead as the leader most of those questioned would most like to see as Prime Minister, by 38 per cent, just ahead of Mr Cameron on 37 per cent. The two were level last week. The Lib Dems may benefit most, with 15 per cent saying they are more likely to vote for the party. Some 16 per cent say they are more likely to vote Tory, and 9 per cent to vote Labour. Mr Clegg remains the most likeable of the three leaders, >>> Peter Riddell | Friday, April 30, 2010

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