Calls to spare Darling in reshuffle

BRITISH Prime Minister Gordon Brown was last night facing calls to spare Chancellor Alistair Darling as he prepared to reshuffle the cabinet to shore up his tottering premiership.

Supporters of Darling insisted there was no mood on the Labour back benches for a change at the treasury and they warned against a humiliating demotion for the chancellor.

The British prime minister is widely thought to want to install his old ally, Children’s Secretary Ed Balls, in the treasury in his shake-up of his ministerial pack, which could come as early as tomorrow.

However, his calculations have been complicated by Darling’s reported refusal to accept a move to the Home Office.

Brown is well aware that Darling could trigger a run of other ministerial resignations if he was to walk away from the cabinet – with potentially devastating consequences for his chances of survival at No 10.

Equally, failure to impose his will and move Darling could be seen as a fatal sign of weakness at a time when plotters on the Labour back benches are thought to be preparing to move against him.

With David Miliband also resisting any attempt to move him from the Foreign Office, the stakes for Brown could not be higher.

The calls to keep Darling as chancellor were led by Labour Party vice-chairman Stephen Ladyman who insisted there was no justification for replacing him.

“He has done a fine job as chancellor,” he told BBC Radio 4’s The World at One.

After Wednesday’s high drama – which saw the resignation of Communities Secretary Hazel Blears in direct challenge to Brown’s authority – Westminster was unusually quiet as voters went to polls in the European and local council elections.

Back-bench plotters who were preparing to circulate a round-robin email to Labour MPs calling on Brown to stand down appeared to be lying low until the polls closed at 10pm.

Labour is braced for a mauling – although with most councils not counting until today and the European election results not due until Sunday evening, it will be the end of the weekend before the full damage becomes clear.

All the signs are, however, that Brown is determined to fight back against any attempt to remove him.