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Brown will enter No 10 unopposed
BBC
Wednesday May 16, 2007
Gordon Brown has secured the backing of enough MPs
to ensure he will not face a contest to become the next Labour leader
and prime minister.
Mr Brown has 308 nominations, prompting his only rival,
left-winger John McDonnell, to concede. He was 16 nominations short
of the 45 required.
Mr McDonnell said he was disappointed on behalf of Labour Party
members and it was a "blow to democracy".
Mr Brown should now take over unopposed after Tony Blair steps
down on 27 June.
Nominations officially close on Thursday, but there are not enough
remaining MPs to allow Mr McDonnell to run.
'Mathematically impossible'
He said: "With Gordon Brown having gained 308 nominations
from Labour MPs, it is now mathematically impossible for me to reach
the nominations I require to stand. There will not now be an election."
He congratulated Mr Brown, but said it was a shame party members
would be denied "an opportunity of participating in a democratic
election for the leader of this party".
"I had hoped by standing I would have given them a voice in this
crucial decision." Mr Brown's campaign said they would await
the formal voting figures announced by the party on Thursday before
making any statement.
But his campaign manager, Commons Leader Jack Straw, said that
they were "delighted" the party was "uniting"
behind the chancellor.
Labour MP for Cannock Chase, Dr Tony Wright, earlier told the BBC
he had nominated Mr Brown as leader, but it had not yet been added
to the Labour Party website.
This gives the chancellor more than the 308 nominations needed
to avoid a contest.
Remaining MPs
Labour MP Andrew Mackinlay's office has reportedly said he would
be nominating Mr Brown, although this has yet to be confirmed by
the BBC.
A Labour spokesman said the party would not be commenting further
on the nominations until they closed at 1230 BST on Thursday.
Of the other MPs yet to declare, the speaker cannot nominate and
the deputy speaker, Sylvia Heal, has told the BBC she will not nominate
anyone.
That leaves 15, including former home secretary Charles Clarke and
former welfare reform minister and long-standing opponent of Mr Brown,
Frank Field.
Candidates who get 45 or more nominations go to a ballot of party
members, trade unionists and Labour MPs and European Parliament
members.
In the deputy leadership contest, in which there are six candidates,
only International Development Secretary Hilary Benn - with 42 officially
listed nominations - has yet to get through to the national ballot.
But a source close to Mr Benn told the BBC on Wednesday that he
now had the required 45 backers.
Backbencher Jon Cruddas, Education Secretary Alan Johnson, Justice
Minister Harriet Harman, Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain and
Labour chairman Hazel Blears have all got through.
Those candidates who make it on to either ballot paper will take
part in 10 hustings around the country ahead of a special conference
in Manchester on 24 June, when the new leader and deputy leader
will be named.
But even as the sole leadership candidate, Mr Brown will still
take part in hustings.
On Wednesday he was at a campaign event in Manchester, outlining
his ideas for an "environmental corps" for young people
to combat climate change and saying he wanted the World Bank to
be "a bank for the environment".
Mr Blair and deputy Labour leader John Prescott will hand over
on 27 June.
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