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Gordon Brown in leadership row

LONDON: The pressure on Prime Minister Gordon Brown to step down intensified on Monday after Labour Party’s worst-ever showing in the European Parliament elections; which saw the far-right British National Party win its first seat at Brussels, sending shockwaves through Britain’s political establishment. In a further humiliation for Mr. Brown, another Minister resigned blaming his leadership for the poor election results. Environment Minister Jane Kennedy quit after she was reportedly asked to give a loyalty pledge to the Prime Minister if she wanted to continue in the government.

Labour managers admitted that the party’s performance had been worse than they had feared.

In what was described as a “historic slump” for Labour, it came third after the Tories and the lightweight United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP).

The BNP’s victory was condemned by mainstream parties across the political spectrum as a “sad day” for British politics.

The party, a successor to the fascist National Front, has an all-white membership policy and stands for deportation of all immigrants back to their native countries. Its leader Nick Griffin, who himself won a seat, called it a “historic breakthrough”.

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