UK:BRITISH PRIME minister Gordon Brown has promised a deeply troubled Labour Party that he "will do better" while insisting that "of course" he will still be in the position come Christmas, reports Frank Millarin Manchester.
However, a key poll in an ominous series suggested yesterday that Labour was heading for a spectacular defeat in the forthcoming Glenrothes byelection in Fife - at which many believe ministers and MPs could decide to force a leadership contest.
On the first full day of his second conference as leader, Mr Brown again acknowledged "mistakes" made over the scrapping of the 10p tax rate affecting millions of Britain's lowest-paid workers - while presenting himself as "a pretty ordinary guy" who "only wanted to be in politics to do public service".
However, the prime minister made clear that his commitment to public service would not extend to standing aside should his colleagues conclude someone else would be better placed to avoid the Labour "massacre" predicted by a survey of 34,000 people in 238 marginal constituencies for PoliticsHome.com, as revealed in yesterday's Observer.
During an uncomfortable interview on BBC 1's Andrew Marr Show, Mr Brown defended his 10-year tenure as chancellor. He rejected suggestions that he had been the author of "light-touch regulation" who only now promised to clean up the City; and confirmed his belief that he was "better equipped than anyone else" to lead Britain through its current economic difficulties.
The ICM survey in Glenrothes, however, suggested another famous SNP victory is more likely if voters perceive Mr Brown's fate to rest on its outcome. With no date yet declared for the poll expected in early November, the SNP is already running neck-and-neck (on 43 per cent) in the seat where Labour is defending a 10,664 majority. That converted to a 44 per cent/41 per cent advantage for Alex Salmond's nationalists when people were asked how they would vote if Mr Brown's premiership depended on it.
MPs worried about their own survival and ministers with an eye on a future succession, meanwhile, were digesting the message of that devastating survey showing Mr Brown currently taking Labour to a worse defeat than it suffered under Michael Foot.
Mr Brown knows such projections inform the calculations of those MPs plotting against him, and those cabinet ministers who want to succeed him. Amid continuing speculation about the intention of at least two senior ministers, Mr Brown was asked if he could "survive" resignations from his cabinet.
He replied: "I think we have a pretty united cabinet. I think people in the Labour Party want the cabinet to work to deal with the economic problems we face."
The spotlight, meanwhile, continued to fall on foreign secretary David Miliband, and on health secretary Alan Johnson, amid speculative reports that they see themselves as a possible "dream ticket" alternative to the present leadership. Both continued to maintain the cabinet discipline of public loyalty to the leader. But Mr Johnson inevitably sustained the sense of mounting unease within the Brown cabinet when speaking of the "brilliant" Mr Miliband's "great future in the party" and declaring: "I hope he goes a long way . . . I'm a big fan."
Former Tony Blair loyalists like Alistair Campbell and Glenys Kinnock are busy rallying MPs to the prime minister's defence with warnings that Labour is making life easy for Conservative leader David Cameron. Despite these interventions, however, others close to the former prime minister are encouraging Mr Miliband to maintain his own high profile. Following his weekend appearances in the Daily Mirror and on the cover of the Times's magazine - "The Contender: Has David Miliband got what it takes?" - the foreign secretary told a Fabian fringe meeting the biggest task facing this week's conference was to "tackle the sense of fatalism" gripping the party.
Mr Miliband also cited the Iraq war as an example when suggesting Labour needed to be "up front" with voters "about things we've got right and got wrong".
Mr Miliband makes his foreign policy speech to conference this afternoon, and is reportedly set to publish his views on "City greed" and the "abuse of market power" in a lengthy interview with Prospect magazine to be published on Wednesday, following Mr Brown's big speech tomorrow.
Some senior Brown loyalists, meanwhile, are briefing that a major cabinet reshuffle may not now feature as part of a fight-back.
Mr Brown last night attended a reception at the Irish World Heritage Centre in Cheetham Hill, outside Manchester. The event was being attended by Irish Ambassador David Cooney and Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore.