Brown fighting for survival after Purnell bombshell

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was today facing a fight for his political life after James Purnell dramatically quit the cabinet and urged him to stand down for the good of the Labour Party.

Mr Purnell gave the PM only moments’ notice of his bombshell departure, announced in an open letter published in the media as polls closed in crucial council and European elections.

As he became the fifth minister to resign in three days, the leading Blairite plunged the government deeper into crisis by saying that Mr Brown’s removal was needed to give Labour “a fighting chance” of victory at the general election.

In the most open Labour attack yet on Mr Brown’s premiership, Mr Purnell wrote: “I now believe that your continued leadership makes a Conservative victory more, not less, likely. That would be disastrous for our country...

“We need to show that we are prepared to fight to be a credible government and have the courage to offer an alternative future.

“I am therefore calling on you to stand aside to give our Party a fighting chance of winning. As such, I am resigning from government.”

Conservatives demanded an immediate general election, calling on the Prime Minister to go to Buckingham Palace today to ask for a dissolution of parliament.

David Cameron said the government was “falling apart in front of our eyes”.

In a statement, Downing Street said Mr Brown was “disappointed” by Mr Purnell’s decision but was giving his “undivided attention” to the big challenges facing the country: “How we guide the economy through the downturn and strengthen it for the future; how we push ahead with reform of, and investment in, our public services; and how we renew trust in our democracy and parliament.”

Number 10 confirmed that the Prime Minister would be “restructuring the government” over the coming days, fuelling expectations that a make-or-break reshuffle of the cabinet will begin today.

Mr Purnell’s departure leaves him with three empty seats at the cabinet table, following the resignations of Home Secretary Jacqui Smith and Communities Secretary Hazel Blears.

Mr Brown’s future could depend on whether that reshuffle is accomplished without further high-profile resignations, as well as on the results of yesterday’s elections in which Labour is expected to be given a mauling by voters.

In the first council to declare overnight, Labour was forced into third place in Bristol, losing a string of seats to the Liberal Democrats, who took overall control for the first time in their history. Conservatives also picked up seats from Labour in the city.

The bulk of English county council results will come this afternoon, with European results due on Sunday evening.

Mr Purnell stressed in his letter that he was not seeking the Labour leadership for himself and had not planned his resignation with anyone else.

His move was welcomed by backbenchers including Siobhain McDonagh, who was sacked as a whip last year after calling for a leadership election, and Nottingham North MP Graham Allen, who said he hoped Mr Brown would “take the honourable way out so that the party can progress with a leadership election”.

Senior backbencher Barry Sheerman, the respected chairman of a Commons select committee, called for a secret ballot of Labour MPs on Mr Brown’s future, which he predicted would result in a majority vote for him to go.

But there were a flood of voices defending the PM, with cabinet ministers Jack Straw, John Hutton, Geoff Hoon, Shaun Woodward and Andy Burnham, as well as Cabinet Office minister Liam Byrne and housing minister Margaret Beckett and a host of whips, junior ministers and backbenchers going public to express their disapproval of Mr Purnell’s move.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband – a close ally of Mr Purnell’s, with whom he served as a Downing Street staffer under Tony Blair – made it known that he would not be resigning from the government, as did Europe minister Caroline Flint.

Suspicions that the wave of support may have been orchestrated by Downing Street or the Labour Party were fuelled when some backbenchers sent out identically-worded e-mails of support for the PM.

But many MPs were clearly outraged at the cabinet infighting at a time when grassroots activists were out campaigning for Labour in the elections.

Morecambe and Lunesdale MP Geraldine Smith said: “I am absolutely furious at the gross disloyalty of these people. Most Labour MPs in the parliamentary Labour Party are still backing Gordon Brown and there is a small bunch of malcontents who are out to do as much damage as possible. It is disgraceful.”

Former deputy prime minister John Prescott used a message on the Labourhome blog to dismiss Mr Purnell as “not so much a Blairite as a careerite”.

Mr Prescott also unleashed a broadside at the organisers of what he dubbed Labour’s election “non-campaign” – including Ms Blears and deputy leader Harriet Harman – who he accused of “lacking the will to fight”.

Mr Cameron used a video on his webcameron Internet site to denounce the “appalling, shambolic” state of the government and call for an election.

“Don’t we deserve better than this? Don’t we deserve a bunch of people who at least can hang together and take some decisions, instead of spending all their time fighting each other?” he asked.

And he released a statement to say: “For the sake of the country, Gordon Brown must carry out the one final act of authority left open to him, go to the Palace and call the general election we have been demanding.”

Danny Alexander, the chief of staff to Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, said: “It is clear that the Labour Government is in total meltdown, that Labour is finished as a government.

“The people of this country have clearly lost confidence in this Labour government and it seems now that ministers are losing confidence in their droves. We may well see more resignations.”