Beckett: Brown must change tack to win election

Beckett says Gordon Brown must change his political direction

Saturday, 24, May 2008 12:00

Former foreign secretary Margaret Beckett says a change of tack is essential if Gordon Brown is to win the next general election.

Ms Beckett's comments come after Labour was defeated in the Crewe and Nantwich by-election on Thursday, giving the opposition party another victory.

The Conservatives took the Crewe and Nantwich seat with a majority of 8,000, overturning Labour's previous stronghold of 7,000.

"Of course [this] was a bad result for the Labour party but we have the right ideas and the right leader to continue to deliver for Britain," Ms Beckett told the BBC's Today programme.

She added that Gordon Brown is still the right person to lead the country during this period of "economic uncertainty", stressing the credentials of his ten successful years as chancellor.

"There is absolutely nothing to say that provided we listen to the electorate and learn from their clear desire to see a change of course, there's nothing whatsoever to say the result of the next general election is set," Ms Becket continued.

Since Labour's latest electoral defeat, rumours have emerged that the justice secretary Jack Straw is being eyed up by senior backbenchers as the figure to tell Mr Brown they have lost confidence in him, reports the Times newspaper.

Labour MP Graham Stringer has already made a public call for the prime minister's resignation, saying the party needs a fresh leader to rescue it from "disaster" at the next election.

Critics now say the meeting of the parliamentary Labour party at the beginning of next month will be a pivotal opportunity for Mr Brown to win back the faith of his party.