The declaration by George Howarth, the Labour MP for Knowsley North and Sefton East, that “hostilities are over” may not resonate outside the Westminster village but it is highly significant for Gordon Brown’s chances of survival. A Privy Councillor, former junior minister, and select committee stalwart, Howarth is precisely the sort of middle-ranking parliamentarian, little known outside the Commons, who can light the touchpaper that leads to huge political events.
In September he wrote unequivocally in the Independent:
“I am a loyal supporter of Labour and our Government, so it may be surprising that I believe we now need to have a leadership contest. I nominated Gordon during last year’s leadership process and genuinely wanted him to do well as Prime Minister. We have to act now to rebuild the support we have lost over the last year because the country cannot afford to sleepwalk into a Tory government. This is particularly true for constituencies like mine, which was devastated the last time the Conservatives were in power.”
For Howarth to resile from this position is therefore no small matter for the beleaguered Prime Minister. The attempted coup that began with David Miliband’s Guardian article in July is now over and Peter Mandelson is installed in the Cabinet as Gordon’s Blairite human shield. That is not to say that he will definitely lead his party into the next election: there is the Glenrothes by-election to come in November and then the European elections next year. Labour may yet resort to regicide. But – for now – the truce is solid.
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