BRITISH PRIME minister Gordon Brown has made it clear he intends to stay on as leader of the Labour Party even if he loses his House of Commons majority in the general election expected in May.
The British prime minister’s declaration adds an unpredictability to the upcoming campaign and confirms fears held privately by senior Labour figures that Mr Brown would not stand aside if Labour were not in power after the election.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour, Mr Brown said: "I owe it to people to continue and complete the work that we've started of taking this country out of the global, financial recession.
“To be honest, going around the country, I feel there’s more to do to improve the health service, more to do to give people better opportunities, more to do for women on maternity pay and equal pay, more to do against the discriminations that still exist.”
When pressed, he went further. “No, I’ll keep going because I want a majority,” he said. “I’ll keep going.”
After the election Mr Brown could find himself out of power; with a majority, or else trying to form a minority administration.
Since the 1979 election, which brought the Conservatives back to power, every losing Labour or Conservative leader has resigned if defeated, with the exception of Labour leader Neil Kinnock, who stayed on after losing in 1987.
If Labour ended up as the largest party in a hung parliament, Mr Brown would be entitled to stay on as prime minister to see if he could survive a motion of confidence, but his statement that he would stay even if he lost outright will concern some in Labour.
The issue now is whether he would try to stay on – assuming Labour loses – in the hope of getting back into power in a second, quickly called election, or whether he would stay on and try to influence whoever takes over.
If the latter, extra time as Labour leader would allow him to promote some new talent.
An orderly but delayed transition would be in Labour’s own interests, since quickly arranged Conservative leadership heaves from 1997 until David Cameron’s arrival were not successful, but only if Mr Brown is willing to stand aside rather than be pushed.
Meanwhile, it emerged that Mr Brown’s ITV interview with Piers Morgan was watched by 4.2 million people – twice the number who chose to view Sunday’s interview on the same channel with the Conservative leader.
