A clear run for Brown as Reid signals he won't fight

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Gordon Brown last night looked likely to have a clear run at the Labour leadership as senior Blairites finally raised the white flag.

John Reid - the last potential heavyweight Cabinet contender and a fierce supporter of the Prime Minister - signalled that he is backing out of the contest.

The Home Secretary had been tipped to mount a lastditch Blairite challenge to the Chancellor, but he predicted yesterday that there would be a "coming together" after next week's local elections.

Government sources said he was not now expected to mount a bid for the leadership.

Reid: 'Backing out'

When he announces his intention to resign next week, Tony Blair is finally preparing to endorse the Chancellor.

Tessa Jowell, another diehard Blair supporter who is tipped to lose her Cabinet post

under Mr Brown, said: "I am sure he will support Gordon."

In a speech today she will call for an end to Labour tribalism, insisting: "No more Blairites and Brownites."

Mr Blair is said to have decided to back his old rival after Environment Secretary David Miliband - seen as the only minister with a realistic chance of snatching the Labour crown from the Chancellor - stood aside.

The Prime Minister is widely expected to announce his intention to step down on or around May 10, a week after Thursday's crunch local and devolved elections.

A leadership race - or coronation - will then ensue before Mr Blair leaves Downing Street in late June or early July.

Mr Brown will face a challenge from a Left-wing MP, either Michael Meacher or John McDonnell, if either can command the backing of the 44 MPs needed to stand. But neither has any chance of defeating Mr Brown.

Mr Reid told the BBC's Sunday AM programme that those hoping Labour would "fracture" after this week's poll - expected to see it record its worst result for at least 25 years - would be disappointed.

Asked if he intended to stand against Mr Brown, Mr Reid said: "There will not be a fracturing beyond this election - there will be a coming together of the Labour leadership.

"We have stood together over the past ten years. We took the accolades together, we now must take responsibility together if we are declining in the polls and we will forge a future together in a spirit of unity."

Labour is on course to lose as many as 500 council seats on Thursday, as well as control of the Scottish Parliament to the SNP.

Mr Brown conceded yesterday that a rout for Labour would reflect badly on him as well as Mr Blair, saying people were "voting on all of us".

But the Chancellor gave a hint of his frustration at Mr Blair's "long goodbye" from Number Ten, which is widely seen to have badly damaged the party's standing.

Asked whether the Prime Minister had hung around too long, a hesitant Mr Brown said: "Yes, well that you have, you have to establish."

The Chancellor dismissed David Cameron's demands for a snap election soon after he takes over to establish whether or not he has a clear mandate from voters.

Mr Cameron, buoyed yesterday by a poll giving him a fivepoint advantage over Mr Brown, urged people to use their "last chance to vote against Tony Blair" on Thursday.

 

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