UK: Uncertainty continues over British Prime Minister Tony Blair departure date

British Prime Minister Tony Blair moved to end a growing revolt in his Labour Party on Thursday (September 7, 2006) by pledging to quit within a year but failed to silence critics who say a speedy change of leader is needed to win back voters. Blair was forced to give his clearest indication on when he would stand down, after nearly a decade in power and three election victories, by a week of government resignations and calls from former allies for him to go. The prime minister said after a visit to a London school that this month's annual conference of Britain's ruling party would be his last as leader. Blair's popularity has tumbled in opinion polls after government scandals over sleaze and mismanagement were compounded by controversy over the wars in Iraq and Lebanon and the front pages of most British newspapers on Thursday (September 7) led with the crisis surrounding Blair. Speaking during a visit to a sports centre in Glasgow, his finance minister and expected successor, Gordon Brown, who has had a tense relationship with Blair, said he would support the prime minister's decision but stressed it must be in the interests of the party and the country. "But I want to make it absolutely clear today that when I met the prime minister yesterday, I said to him as I've said on many occasions to him and I repeat today that it is for him to make the decision. I said also to him and I make clear again today that I will support him in the decisions he makes. That this cannot and should not be about private arrangements but what is in the best interests of our party and most of all the best interests of our country and I will support him in doing exactly that," said Brown. By not giving a precise timetable, Blair may not have done enough to quell the worst crisis of his political career and end the party bickering, some Labour lawmakers said. Hailed as a hero after dragging the Labour Party out of 18 years in the political wilderness, Blair has seen his support ebbing away in a decline mirroring the dramatic slide in Margaret Thatcher's fortunes at the end of her premiership.

ITN Source | September 7, 2006

Tags:. .growing. .enough. .september. .popularity. .critics