New leadership challenge for Gordon Brown
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| 06-01-2010| Politics & LawTwo Labour party members of Parliament – former defence secretary Geoff Hoon and former health secretary Patricia Hewitt – have challenged Gordon Brown’s leadership as Prime Minsiter.
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Hoon and Hewitt – both former cabinet secretaries – sent a letter to their fellow MPs asking them to support their leadership challenge, provoking immediate worries amongst Brown supporters that current members of his cabinet might support the plot.
The pair say in their letter that they wish to hold an immediate leadership contest in the Parliamentary Labour Party in order to sort out once and for all whether Brown should remain at the helm of government and the Labour Party.
The timing of the challenge is extremely delicate, coming at the start of a general election year, and the challengers believe the PLP is still “deeply divided over the question of the leadership”.
In their letter, Hoon and Hewitt say: “Many colleagues have expressed their frustration at the way in which this question is affecting our political performance. We have therefore come to the conclusion that the only way to resolve this issue would be to allow every member to express their view in a secret ballot.”
Furthermore, they think that: “This could be done quickly and with minimum disruption to the work of MPs and the Government. Whatever the outcome the whole of the party could then go forward, knowing that this matter had been sorted out once and for all.”
By the end of the afternoon, most senior cabinet members, including Jack Straw and Alistair Darling had voiced lukewarm support for the Prime Minister, despite having good reason to be frustrated with his performance since the last leadership crisis in June 2009.
The Conservative Party quickly made fun of the renewed Labour Party leadership confusion, posting a spoof general election poster on their blog, with Hoon and Hewitt seemingly supporting the Tory election slogan – “We can’t go on like this.” The Hoon and Hewitt coup version reads, alongside a photo of them: “Even we can’t go on like this.”
El vocabulario de esta semana
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Nouns:
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- worries – preocupaciones
- pair -pareja
- timing – momento, hora
- colleague – colega, compañero
- disruption – interrupción
Noun phrases:
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- cabinet secretary – miembro del gobierno
- leadership challenge – desafío al liderazgo
- leadership contest – votación sobre el liderazgo
- leadership crisis – crisis de liderazgo
- political performance – rendimiento político
- the whole of the party – el partido entero
- senior cabinet member – miembro del gobierno con más peso político
- Tory election slogan – el lema electoral conservador
Verbs:
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- to support – apoyar
- to provoke – provocar
- to divide – dividir
- to post – publicar
- to frustrate – frustrar
Verb Phrases:
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- to sort out – organizar
- to remain at the helm of government – permanecer al frente del gobierno
- to come to the conclusion – llegar a la conclusión
- to resolve an issue – solucionar un problema
- to express a view – expresar un punto de vista
- to go forward – avanzar
- to voice support for – apoyar en público
- to make fun of – gastar una broma
Adjectives:
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- former – antiguo
- current – actual
- once and for all – de una vez por todas
- lukewarm – tibio
- fellow – prójimo
Las frases de esta semana
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- Hoon and Hewitt – both former cabinet secretaries – sent a letter to their fellow MPs asking them to support their leadership challenge.
- The pair say in their letter that they wish to hold an immediate leadership contest in the Parliamentary Labour Party in order to sort out once and for all whether Brown should remain at the helm of government and the Labour Party.
- Many colleagues have expressed their frustration at the way in which this question is affecting our political performance.
- Whatever the outcome the whole of the party could then go forward, knowing that this matter had been sorted out once and for all.
- The Conservative Party quickly made fun of the renewed Labour Party leadership confusion, posting a spoof general election poster on their blog.
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