Hoon and Hewitt call for Brown vote
Updated on 06 January 2010
Former Cabinet ministers Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt have called for a Labour leadership contest, writing to every Labour MP and calling for the leadership issue to be sorted out "once and for all".
In the letter, Mr Hoon and Ms Hewitt said that unless the issue of the leadership was resolved, it could undermine Labour's general election campaign.
In a radio interview soon after news of the letter broke, Ms Hewitt said a secret ballot could be held next Monday, with the results declared at the scheduled meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party that evening.
She said: "This secret ballot could put the issue to rest once and for all and give us the best chance of defeating David Cameron.
"Even the strongest supporters of the Prime Minister ought to be supporting this call."
Ms Hewitt denied that she had discussed the letter with the Foreign Secretary David Miliband, who has been tipped as a potnetial successor to Brown.
She added: "I have not spoken to David about this. I have not spoken to any Cabinet member about this. It is not an attempted coup. It is an attempt to get this matter sorted once and for all."
In a TV interview, Mr Hoon said: "Colleagues have been complaining to me, expressing cnocerns that we are simply not getting our message across as a political party because of the continued doubts and concerns about the leadership.
"I think this is an opprtunity for the Labour party to resolve this matter once and for all. It can be done quickly and easily. I don't understand why anybody would oppose the idea of a secret ballot.
"It would allow the Labour party to unite prior to what is going to be a difficult election campaign.
"We have elections and secret ballots to give us a clear result and that's really what we're calling for.
"Patricia Hewitt and I came back from our vacations and our constituencies where we talked to our party members and constituents and we have had that message consistently: 'Why is the Labour party not getting its act together and presenting a clear united front?'.
"Part of the problem is the continued questions about the leadership, which we must resolve.
"I accept there will be people who have strong opinions one way and the other.
"I have never been involved in this before, I have never said this before, I believe the time is now right because of the prospect of an election this year and because of the continuing uncertainty among Labour MPs. It is the right time to resolve this matter now.
"I don't believe it is a question of deciding a credible candidate, we had an extremely good, effective, thoughtful deputy leadership election and it did the party a power of good to debate those issues debated in public and I believe if it came to that it would be the case again in the future.
"I think it's for the parliamentary Labour party to deicde how soon this could be resolved.
"I've scarcely appeared in the media over the past six months. I've been busy on other matters, working hard on behalf of my constituents.
"I have to say I have come back from my constituency at the end of what has been quite a long parliamentary recess and the message I've had has been absolutely clear from party members and constituents: 'the Labour party must get its act together and resolve these matters as a matter of urgency'."
Channel 4 News political correspondent Cathy Newman said: "Although they are both Blairites they have not so far been the most outspoken opponents of Brown. That makes it more serious.
"So the question is what does the Cabinet do now?
"Yesterday I spoke to a Blairite Cabinet minister who told me they felt Brown would stay but clearly the plot is much more real than many suspected it was a few days ago.
"A lot of backbenchers returning to the Commons this week felt it was too close to the election to topple Brown. And that may still be the case. The next 24 hours is crucial."
A Labour special adviser to a Cabinet minister told Channel 4 News: "Unless somebody is lined up I don't see how the plot can go anywhere."
Former Home Secretary Charles Clarke confirmed that he had received the letter from his former Cabinet colleagues and was backing their move.
The Norwich North MP, who has been one of Mr Brown's fiercest backbench critics, said: "I have received the letter and I support their call."
Labour MP Frank Field, also a former minister who led the rebellion against Mr Brown over the 10p tax issue, said: "I support a secret ballot among all backbench MPs on the leadership question."
The Labour constitution states the party's leadership should be primarily decided at the annual conference and the incumbent can only be replaced if 20 per cent of MPs support another candidate.
Conservative Party chairman Eric Pickles said: "We have a situation now where every day a Labour MP is turning on the Prime Minister.
"It's irresponsible to have such a dysfunctional, faction-ridden Labour Party running the country.
"Ministers are more concerned about saving their own political skin than actually getting Britain out of the monumental mess we are in.
"We cannot go on like this. The only responsible thing the Government can do is call a general election."
This plot desperately needs new names and we wait to see them.
Geoff Hoon, as a former Chief Whip, knows his way round things, knows very well that previous plots fizzled out and lacked organisation. He would not lightly put his name at the front of this one, I suspect, unless he thought other interesting, fresh names would join in.
As it stands, the momentum is very much with the loyalists. I've heard longstanding rebels, one after another, say now is not the time. A big name or two not previously seen as a rebel would keep this alive. Without it, there is a danger this revolt fizzles out.
Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt both insisted in interviews with me that they had made no contact with any Cabinet minister about today's letter, not even conversations on a deniable basis, they claimed. But what a moment. Something like 150 days before a likely election date and senior figures are launching a frontal assault on the Party leader. There's no precedent I can think of in British politics for such a thing.
Only yesterday, Number 10's trouble scouts thought the coast was pretty clear. They're not in meltdown, but they're angry and waiting to see if Geoff and Patricia have any more shots to fire.
The letter in full:
Dear Colleague,
As we move towards a General Election it remains the case that the Parliamentary Labour Party is deeply divided over the question of the leadership. Many colleagues have expressed their frustration at the way in which this question is affecting our political performance. We have therefore come to the conclusion that the only way to resolve this issue would be to allow every member to express their view in a secret ballot.
This could be done quickly and with minimum disruption to the work of MPs and the Government. Whatever the outcome the whole of the party could then go forward, knowing that this matter had been sorted out once and for all.
Strong supporters of the Prime Minister should have no difficulty in backing this approach. There is a risk otherwise that the persistent background briefing and grumbling could continue up to and possibly through the election campaign, affecting our ability to concentrate all of our energies on getting our real message across.
Equally those who want change, should they lose such a vote, would be expected by the majority of the PLP to devote all of their efforts to winning the election. The implications of such a vote would be clear – everyone would be bound to support the result.
This is a clear opportunity to finally lay this matter to rest. The continued speculation and uncertainty is allowing our opponents to portray us as dispirited and disunited. It is damaging our ability to set out our strong case to the electorate. It is giving our political opponents an easy target.
In what will inevitably be a difficult and demanding election campaign, we must have a determined and united parliamentary party. It is our job to lead the fight against our political opponents. We can only do that if we resolve these distractions. We hope that you will support this proposal.
Yours fraternally,
Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt
