Labour MPs blame Brown for poll defeat
July 26th, 2009
Conservative opposition leader David Cameron (left) congratulates Chloe Smith after her win in the Norwich by-election in eastern England on Friday. Photo/ REUTERS
Prime Minister Gordon Brown came under attack from within his own Labour Party today, as some blamed him for its latest humiliating electoral defeat.
Britain’s opposition Conservatives won a parliamentary seat from the ruling Labour party yesterday, securing a big majority that would give them a landslide if repeated at a national election due within a year.
The poll for the Norwich North seat, prompted after the local member of parliament (MP) resigned in protest at being punished for his role in an expenses scandal, was being watched for clues to the outcome of the forthcoming general election.
Conservative candidate Chloe Smith, who at 27 becomes Britain’s youngest MP, beat her Labour rival into second place by a commanding margin. She captured 39.5 per cent of the vote, against a Labour share of just over 18 per cent.
Reacting to the defeat, a small number of senior Labour (MPs accused Brown of being out of touch with the electorate, leading to the by-election loss.
But Tony Lloyd, chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party, said there would be no leadership challenge to Gordon Brown.
“There is no leadership crisis taking place,” he told BBC radio.
Brown faced down a group of party rebels last month following a drubbing in local and European elections. Despite a string of cabinet resignations, it became apparent no Labour MP was prepared to stand against him.
Barry Sheerman, a select committee chairman, renewed his criticism today saying Brown had the summer to find a way to reconnect with core voters or consider his position.
“It’s partly a question of leadership, it’s partly a question of ideas,” he told BBC radio. “It’s for the prime minister to go away and say ‘at the moment, I’m not connecting with the voters in our country, how do I get this right?
The by-election was called after Labour incumbent Ian Gibson resigned in protest at the party barring him from standing in future elections in response to a scandal over MPs’ expenses.
Former Home Secretary Charles Clarke blamed Brown’s handling of the scandal for the heavy loss to the Conservatives.
Clarke, writing in the Independent newspaper, said the prime minister’s unfair vilification of Gibson had resulted in the election and subsequent defeat.
“Though the very low overall standing of the party was a serious handicap, the principal verdict of the by-election was on Labour’s appalling handling of the expenses issue.” (Reuters)
source.nation.ke