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UK's Brown to quit in bid to keep Labour in power
 British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Monday he would step down this year, sacrificing himself to give his Labor Party a chance of forming a government with the smaller Liberal Democrats.The Lib Dems are already being courted by the Conservatives, who did best in an election last week. But Brown said in a statement in front of his official residence at 10 Downing Street that the Lib Dems now wanted to talk to Labor too. The center-right Conservatives, led by David Cameron, won most seats in parliament but fell short of a majority. Labor, in power since 1997, came second and the Liberal Democrats, led by Nick Clegg, a distant third. It is the first time since 1974 that a British election has put no party in overall control. Brown's announcement could make it easier for Labor to lure the Lib Dems away from the Conservatives, since Clegg had signaled strongly during the election campaign that he did not wish to keep the unpopular Brown, 59, in office. "Mr Clegg has just informed me that while he intends to continue his dialogue that he has begun with the Conservatives, he now wishes also to take forward formal discussions with the Labor Party," Brown said, adding that he would facilitate that. "I have no desire to stay in my position longer than is needed," Brown said. "As leader of my party I must accept that that (the election result) is a judgment on me. I therefore intend to ask the Labor Party to set in train the processes needed for its own leadership election," he said. Posted by: Fred 2010-05-11 |
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