lifestyle leader

The drama surrounding Britain's Labour Party and the political fate of Prime Minister Gordon Brown is growing by the day.

Following the surprise resignation of Communities Secretary Hazel Blears, The Guardian reports that Labour backbenchers have devised a timetable for a leadership challenge and are mulling a formal letter asking the PM to step down. The plan envisions a new PM installed by the first week of July. It is widely assumed that another high-profile, 'unplanned' resignation would all but seal Brown's fate. In fact, The Guardian is reporting that there are rumours of mass resignation this evening, what would effectively amount to a coup.

The past week has been a case study in how quickly a government can lose control, particularly if it fails to stay on message. It was known that Brown was planning a major cabinet reshuffle following the European elections, a last-ditch attempt of sorts to redefine his premiership and close Labour ranks around 10 Downing Street. But then came the leaks: the PM wants Blears to stand down, Blears doesn't want to stand down, Darling will go, Ed Balls to be new Chancellor, Darling will not accept a move to Home Office, Mandelson to Foreign Office, and on and on and on. The government quickly lost control of the cabinet reshuffle and, more importantly, the media cycle. It went from planning a carefully orchestrated show of leadership and fight to seemingly helpless in less than 48 hours. The frenzied speculation has only stoked the fires burning on the Labour backbench. The last straw appears to be the leak of Jacqui Smith's resignation, a development that led The Guardian to report that "the government was spinning out of control."

For a man who pledged "less spin, more substance" upon taking office, Brown must be yearning for the dark arts of Labour governments past...

I have found The Guardian's reporting on Labour's implosion unrivaled, and expect it to define the coverage of Brown's seemingly inevitable departure. If you are as captivated as I am by the events unfolding in Whitehall, check out the Politics Blog with Deborah Summers, a real-time account of the rumours and reporting of "Gordon Brown's Leadership Crisis (Live!)."