Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Why Purnell resigned

I can reveal that James Purnell was offered education, which he turned down, and decided to resign because he couldn’t go on continuing to go out in public and support a PM whom he’d lost faith in months ago. It’s an open secret that Purnell supported David Miliband for the leadership last summer. And, in this context, reports of Miliband’s resignation, expected tomorrow, made sense – it would have been four Cabinet resignations in four days. But Miliband has apparently denied it – to quit now, and choose the wilderness, takes a certain sort of courage. As Miliband showed us last summer, he doesn’t have it.

I believe Purnell when he says he acted alone – if he waited for some co-ordinated attempt he would be waiting forever. Even those close to Purnell had no inkling that he was preparing to do this – the secret was so well-kept that even No.10 didn’t know until 9.50pm.

Of course, if Purnell was offered education, that means Ed Balls has porbably been offered the Chancellorship. My hunch is that this was likely to be the trigger for Purnell and, if such a move is confirmed, it could be a trigger for many other ministers. There is something about Balls as Chancellor that is simply incendiary: it would be the ultimate sign of a bunker government. Reduced to Brown, his aides and a few has-beens.

Brown got rid of Blair by getting private secretaries to resign hour after hour. It seems Brown is going to go after Cabinet ministers resign day after day.

UPDATE AT 12.15AM:  And now Brown’s attack dogs come out.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Keep reading with a free trial

Subscribe and get your first month of online and app access for free. After that it’s just £1 a week.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

Or

Unlock more articles

REGISTER

Comments

Don't miss out

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.

Already a subscriber? Log in