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Miliband says he nearly resigned in Labour revolt

LONDON: Foreign Secretary David Miliband nearly resigned last week as part of the revolt against Prime Minister Gordon Brown, it emerged on Saturday as Peter Mandelson, senior Cabinet Minister and Mr. Brown’s key political adviser, warned that he could face another leadership challenge soon.

Mr. Miliband, who is himself known to nurse leadership ambitions, admitted in a newspaper interview that he considered quitting when his Cabinet colleague and friend James Purnell dramatically resigned as Pensions Secretary calling on Mr. Brown to step down in the larger interest of the party.

Mr. Miliband’s remarks in The Guardian confirmed the speculation at the time of Mr. Purnell’s sudden resignation that it was intended to spark a wave of resignations by other senior Ministers such as Mr. Miliband as part of a strategy to force Mr. Brown to quit his post.

It was later reported that Mr. Miliband decided to stay on after being assured by Downing Street that he would not be moved out of Foreign Office when the Prime Minister reshuffled his Cabinet the next day.

Another Cabinet Minister who was assured that he would not be disturbed was Alistair Darling, the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Mr. Miliband warned that Labour had the “fight of our life on our hands” winning the next general election, barely months away, after the party’s disastrous performance in last week’s local and European Parliament elections.

He described the results as an “electric shock” and, in an oblique criticism of the leadership, said the party needed to do a lot to win back the trust of the voters.

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