The Glenrothes By-election 2008

'Rumours swept Westminster today that a Cabinet minister is planning to resign if Gordon Brown loses the Glenrothes by-election.' Joe Murphy and Paul Waugh in the London Evening Standard, 16 th September 2008.

Cabinet minister 'ready to quit over by-election'

By Joe Murphy and Paul Waugh in the London Evening Standard, 16 th September 2008

Rumours swept Westminster today that a Cabinet minister is planning to resign if Gordon Brown loses the Glenrothes by-election.

Labour insiders believe a dissident will walk out in an attempt to topple the Prime Minister in the wake of a defeat in the safe seat.

It comes a day after the Evening Standard spoke to a middle-ranking minister who said he is considering resigning and that discontent with Mr Brown was widespread.

Rebels claim up to three ministers and a string of ministerial aides could quit before next week's party conference in Manchester to speak out against Mr Brown's leadership.

But a Cabinet-level resignation would be far more dangerous. "My guess is that in the few days after Glenrothes, if Labour lose, a senior member of the Cabinet will resign and challenge Gordon," a party source told the Daily Record. Speculation is bound to focus on the Blairites in the Cabinet, who are likely backers of Foreign Secretary David Miliband. Business Secretary John Hutton raised eyebrows at the weekend by refusing to condemn rebel MPs calling for a leadership contest.

The by-election is likely to be delayed until 6 November in the hope that a long contest will give Mr Brown's fightback more time to show results.

Labour had a 10,644 majority in 2005 but polling suggests the resurgent Scottish Nationalists can muster the 13 per cent swing needed to win.

Mr Brown today set out to slap down the rebels at a meeting of Labour's ruling body, the National Executive Committee. The dissidents, led by former minister Janet Anderson, were calling for nomination papers to be sent to all MPs before the conference.

Chancellor Alistair Darling rallied to Mr Brown today, saying: "I have every confidence in Gordon Brown. I believe he is the right person to lead this country and to lead this party. At the conference next week he will set out his vision for the future. I think we should get behind him."

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith called for an end to party feuding. "Gordon Brown is Prime Minister and he puts his credibility to the test every day in helping people and making this country a better place," she said.

However, James Purnell, the Work and Pensions Secretary, told an Evening Standard Influentials debate that Labour rebels were "entitled to do anything they want".

Soundings among National Executive Committee members show Mr Brown will be resoundingly backed this morning, giving him a muchneeded victory over the rebels. The Prime Minister will also chair a special political meeting of the Cabinet, setting out plans for the conference, before flying to Northern Ireland to make a historic speech to the assembly.

Lord Jones, the former businessman and trade minister, let slip in a speech that there will be a Cabinet reshuffle "in two or three weeks".

Former minister Gisela Stuart joined the rebels, saying that Labour's 1997 election theme song - Things Can Only Get Better - had been replaced by "surely, it can't get worse".

One member of the NEC pointed out that former general secretary Margaret McDonagh - sister of rebel MP Siobhan McDonagh - had for years refused requests from the Left for nomination papers to be sent out.

But the NEC source added: "Ordinary members do want to have this discussion - but within the party not in the media. We need a frank and honest debate."