Labour whips are braced for a resumption of hostilities in the battle over Gordon Brown's future tonight after a day-long truce while voters across the UK delivered their verdict at local and European elections.
It will be Sunday night before it is clear whether the party has received the drubbing suggested by opinion polls. With 72 seats up for grabs in the European Parliament, it has been trailing even the UK Independence Party and battling the Liberal Democrats for fourth place.
In the local council elections, where 2,138 seats were up for grabs, Labour was facing another rout and the loss of some of its last remaining strongholds in the Midlands and North.
But the party ceasefire will not hold until the results are in. Many were predicting today that normal politics - if such a thing still exists - will resume as soon as the polling booths shut at 10pm, when many MPs will no longer fear accusations of disloyalty if they question the Prime Minister's future.
Both sides know that the window of opportunity will be brief. After four ministerial resignations this week, Mr Brown is widely expected to bring forward a reshuffle originally planned for next Monday to reassert his authority and get his premiership back on track.
The rebels - and especially the small and as-yet unidentified group behind the so-called "Hotmail plot" - will also be busy. They are expected to send an e-mail across the Parliamentary Labour Party by tomorrow morning canvassing support for a no-confidence motion against Mr Brown.
The Prime Minister continued last night with plans to shake up his Government and was preparing to bring Ed Balls into the Treasury despite indications from friends of Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, that he was reluctant to move.
In a sign of the febrile atmosphere, Downing Street was forced to deny claims that Mr Brown had asked John Reid, the former Home Secretary, whether he wanted the job back.
Meanwhile party whips are braced for ministers to unleash fierce attacks on Mr Brown after the polls close tonight. They have been warned that a fifth minister may walk out over the coming days.
The message to Mr Brown, which MPs are being asked by e-mail to sign, reads: "Dear Gordon, over the last 12 years in Government, and before, you have made an enormous contribution to this country and the Labour Party and this is very widely acknowledged.
"However we are writing now because we believe that in the current political situation you can best serve the interests of the Labour Party by stepping down as Party Leader and Prime Minister, so allowing the Party to choose a new Leader to take us into the next General Election."
The MPs are assured that the names of signatories will not be published unless a target of 50 is reached.
Nick Brown, the Labour Chief Whip, said that he believed that those behind the e-mail were Blairites such as Stephen Byers and Alan Milburn. He said that they had been joined by "eccentric individualists" such as the backbenchers Graham Stringer, Graham Allen and Paul Farrelly. The latter categorically denied the claim on the BBC2 Newsnight programme.
Ms Blears’ resignation yesterday, on the eve of the elections, was a godsend to the Opposition. David Cameron said that the fourth ministerial resignation in two days showed that the Government was "collapsing before our eyes". Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, told MPs: "Labour is finished."
One former minister said that there was huge desire within the party for a change of leadership, but MPs were waiting to see whether a heavyweight challenger would come forward. Alan Johnson remains favourite.
Source:The times
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