Jane Kennedy joined the ranks of Labour politicians
Monday, June 8th, 2009Jane Kennedy, who quit as farming minister, joined the ranks of Labour politicians who said Mr Brown should quit. So did Stephen Byers, Frank Field and Sally Keeble, all former ministers under Tony Blair.
They bring to 13 the number of Labour MPs who have spoken out against Mr Brown in the last week, a significant number but still well short of the “critical mass” rebel leaders had hoped for.
Since the Labour plot emerged last week, Mr Brown’s allies, led by Lord Mandelson, have been putting growing pressure on wavering backbenchers not to back the rebellion.
Crucially, Mr Brown’s machine appears to have persuaded some MPs that if he was ousted, Labour would have no choice but to call an early general election, where many of them might lose their seats.
Mr Brown himself was appointed prime minister in the course of a parliament and has insisted he did not need to call an election to give him a mandate. Some Labour MPs have ridiculed his allies claim that another leader would have to take a different course.
Mr Field, a candidate for Commons Speaker, said the argument put by Mr Brown’s team was “absurd”.
However, John Grogan, a backbencher who has repeatedly rebelled against the Government, said that the threat of an early election had swayed some MPs and persuaded them to stay silent.
