Back to Westminster Blog homepageSince last night’s BBC broadcast about an imminent rebellion from a minister of state there has been a frenzied race to name him or her.
The belief today is that it is likely to be David Cairns, a minister in the Scotland Office. He hasn’t broken cover yet. Other names on the rumour mill include skills minister David Lammy (his spokesman denies it in the strongest possible terms) and Ivan Lewis, health minister, who angered the Brownites earlier this year by saying voters were angry and disappointed.
This blog has so far been silent on the rebellion because it’s so hard to work out whether it’s a flash in the pan or the beginning of the end for Gordon Brown. It seems un-coordinated, but is it? Are they leading up to the big event (eg a cabinet resignation) just before party conference or is there no such game plan?
As Red Box points out, the prime minister’s Achilles Heel is the cabinet. Unlike Tony Blair, Gordon Brown may ignore a handful of junior government resignations; not so a cabinet coup.
Jim Pickard and Alex Barker, FT Westminster correspondents, share the latest news and gossip from the UK's political scene.
Alex Barker
Jim Pickard
