A tumultous day for Gordon Brown, as the scale of Labour's defeat in the local elections became clear, and ministers resigned as fast as he could fill posts in his Cabinet reshuffle.
Caroline Flint stepped down as Minister for Europe in the fifth resignation of the day, accusing Gordon Brown of treating her as "female window dressing" and having a two-tier Cabinet. She followed...
...Tony McNulty, who resigned as Employment Minister in the wake of controversy over his expenses, and followed...
...Margaret Beckett, the Housing Minister, who is reportedly leaving the Government after she was not offered another post. She, in turn, followed...
...Geoff Hoon, who left the Cabinet in order to pursue a "wider role" in European and international affairs. His resignation came hot on the heels of ...
...that of John Hutton, the Defence Secretary, who insisted he was standing down for personal reasons and that he remained fully supportive of the PM.
James Purnell, the Work and Pensions Secretary, waited until the local and European polls closed at 10pm before announcing his resignation and calling on the PM to go too for the good of the party - the first direct challenge from a senior Labour figure.
Hazel Blears stuck the knife in by announcing her resignation as Communities Secretary in what appears to be a calculated blow to the PM just two days before the local and European elections. Her resignation letter pointedly did not praise Mr Brown or his policies as is customary.
This day was also a busy one for resignations - and was arguably the day that precipitated the current leadership crisis
While not a member of the Cabinet, the news that Tom Watson, a close adviser of the PM, would quit as a Cabinet Office minister in the reshuffle, was a big blow to Gordon Brown, particularly as it followed...
...the leaking of Jacqui Smith's decision to step down as Home Secretary, the first Cabinet casualty of the MPs' expenses scandal. It was revealed she told Gordon Brown within days of revelations about her finances that she wanted to quit the Government in a reshuffle. That news, in turn, followed...
...revelations that Beverley Hughes, the children's minister, will be stepping down as an MP at the next general election, as will former Cabinet minister Patricia Hewitt.
Labour won 159 seats in the local elections and came THIRD, YES THIRD, behind Conservatives on 1330 seats and the Lib Dems on 439.
It's all gone tits up at Downing Street. I thought our Romanian government was a farce but this one is catching up on a daily basis.
Caroline Flint stepped down as Minister for Europe in the fifth resignation of the day, accusing Gordon Brown of treating her as "female window dressing" and having a two-tier Cabinet. She followed...
...Tony McNulty, who resigned as Employment Minister in the wake of controversy over his expenses, and followed...
...Margaret Beckett, the Housing Minister, who is reportedly leaving the Government after she was not offered another post. She, in turn, followed...
...Geoff Hoon, who left the Cabinet in order to pursue a "wider role" in European and international affairs. His resignation came hot on the heels of ...
...that of John Hutton, the Defence Secretary, who insisted he was standing down for personal reasons and that he remained fully supportive of the PM.
James Purnell, the Work and Pensions Secretary, waited until the local and European polls closed at 10pm before announcing his resignation and calling on the PM to go too for the good of the party - the first direct challenge from a senior Labour figure.
Hazel Blears stuck the knife in by announcing her resignation as Communities Secretary in what appears to be a calculated blow to the PM just two days before the local and European elections. Her resignation letter pointedly did not praise Mr Brown or his policies as is customary.
This day was also a busy one for resignations - and was arguably the day that precipitated the current leadership crisis
While not a member of the Cabinet, the news that Tom Watson, a close adviser of the PM, would quit as a Cabinet Office minister in the reshuffle, was a big blow to Gordon Brown, particularly as it followed...
...the leaking of Jacqui Smith's decision to step down as Home Secretary, the first Cabinet casualty of the MPs' expenses scandal. It was revealed she told Gordon Brown within days of revelations about her finances that she wanted to quit the Government in a reshuffle. That news, in turn, followed...
...revelations that Beverley Hughes, the children's minister, will be stepping down as an MP at the next general election, as will former Cabinet minister Patricia Hewitt.
Labour won 159 seats in the local elections and came THIRD, YES THIRD, behind Conservatives on 1330 seats and the Lib Dems on 439.
It's all gone tits up at Downing Street. I thought our Romanian government was a farce but this one is catching up on a daily basis.
