(c) Alan Dean

The New Year had barely begun when Gordon Brown faced another coup – this time led by Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt. David Cameron had presented an open goal by admitting he had “misdescribed” the Tories’ policy on marriage. Instead, the Labour Party was busy fighting itself.

Those who want Brown removed emphasise that Labour is not getting its message out loud and clear. Twenty-seven-year-old councillor James Alexander, who is contesting the seat of York Outer at the next election, thinks the coup couldn’t have come at a worst time: “I’m doing okay locally because people know about the good work I’m doing on the council, but this is a distraction,” he said. He appears to agree that it would have been better to have had a leadership election in 2007 rather than just have the baton pass from Blair to Brown. “I think it would have been better if Gordon Brown had been challenged,” he said, “It would’ve given him some more authority in his position. However, it’s easy to say with hindsight because at the time, no-one had the support to challenge him.”

Alexander said he was in “two minds” about whether a secret ballot should be held now: “Part of me thinks it would resolve the situation once and for all but part of me also thinks if there’s not enough support for it in the first place it would just damage the party. I’d rather people in the higher echelons of the party got their heads together and got on with the job.” He fears that what he calls the “ridiculous situation” of whispering and plots will just continue. Yet, he also thinks there aren’t any other names that could have the authority to win over the party.

Regarding Brown’s support during an election campaign, he spoke of working with him on several campaigns: “I’ve seen him being personable, quick witted, very very friendly, smiley and chatty. But none of that comes across on television. If I took him round council estates and old people’s homes, I’d find him very, very helpful to my campaign.  If he came down and we had all the TV cameras, I don’t think he’d be as helpful.”

On the morning of Prime Minister’s Question Time on Wednesday, Hoon and Hewitt sent an email to all Labour MPs suggesting a secret ballot should be called to choose a new Labour leader. The letter said: “This 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. On Thursday, Hoon wrote in The Independent : “No one is around the House of Commons for very long without hearing comments and complaints about our inability to get our message across. Every speech or interview is analysed for what it may or may not say about the leadership – instead for what it actually says about our policy proposals.” He asserted that many Labour MPs had such thoughts in private but few were willing to say so in public.

Nearly 20 years ago, Geoffrey Howe famously put the boot in Margaret Thatcher with a speech in the Commons that has since been quoted in political books. Politicians nowadays use email and mobilise their supporters on the blogosphere instead of being huddled in the lobby. Hoon was initially ridiculed for first sending a blank email without any attachments. By the evening, the plot had fizzled out. The Labour List blog was inundated with comments from Twitter and email exchanges from irate Labour MPs. Jim Hood, for Lanark and Hamilton East described it as an “act of treachery beyond comprehension.”

Media attention has mainly focused on the reaction of the Cabinet. Its members have come out in support of Brown, although Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling was reported to have suggested to Brown face-to-face at a Cabinet meeting that he should step down. David Miliband was also notable in lagging to support Brown until seven hours after the email was sent. Brown has since dismissed the coup as a “storm in a teacup”. However, he has compromised by giving roles for running the election to Business Secretary Peter Mandelson, International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander and to one Cabinet figure who would like to see him leave, Deputy Leader Harriet Harman. Subsequently, Labour has taken another dip in the polls.

Following the expenses scandal, politicians of all stripes have talked about the need to repair politics by changing the electoral system to proportional representation and changing the Commons. Regarding how the Labour Party elects its leaders, John Smith and Tony Blair were praised for ending the disproportionate share the trade unions had over the election of its leaders. However, the parties still cling to successions that are more reminiscent of Machiavellian dealing than democracy.

As Alexander said, he wishes that people “in the higher echelons of the party got their heads together and got on with the job.”  That aim has been frustrated in recent years. The negotiated withdrawal of Gordon Brown from the leadership election of 1994 is one example. Coronations have only succeeded in allowing the respective parties to avoid asking themselves searching questions. That applied in the case of the Conservatives with Michael Howard in 2003. They approached the 2005 election with the so-called dog whistle manifesto and they made no progress electorally.

Labour is still feeling the effects of the so-called curry house coup of 2006 that hastened Tony Blair’s departure. Whilst Cameron has been described as the heir to Blair, Labour’s Blairites are looking for their own.

Alexander and the other Parliamentary candidates are scheduled to meet with the ‘higher echelons’ of the party in London tomorrow to discuss how the coup plots are affecting them. After coming into office, Blair spoke of a Third Way of politics. At the moment, Labour is stuck in a Third Way, whispering against Brown but unable to either get behind him or remove him.

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