British Prime Minister Tony Blair faced the challenge today of restoring his government's authority after it was engulfed in crisis a week ahead of crucial local elections.
John Hutton
Newspapers cleared their pages to detail the three crises that blew up a week before elections seen as a test of Mr Blair's leadership, where a bad showing could hasten calls for him to hand over to leader-in-waiting Finance Minister Gordon Brown.
Yesterday Mr Blair's deputy, John Prescott, admitted having an affair; home affairs minister Charles Clarke, a key ally, offered to resign over a prisons debacle; and health minister Patricia Hewitt was jeered by nurses angry about Labour's flagship health reform.
One Labour minister was quick to back Mr Blair as leader and said Mr Clarke had the support of all ministers, who were due to hold a weekly meeting today.
"It's a massive exaggeration to say that the government is in a meltdown," said Work and Pensions Minister John Hutton.
But a year after he overcame criticism of his support for the Iraq war to win a third straight election, albeit with a smaller majority, Mr Blair is under pressure to rebuild support for Labour.
According to one opinion poll this week, Labour support has fallen to its lowest point since 1987, when Margaret Thatcher's Conservative Party was in power.
Mr Blair has endured weeks of opposition attacks over his party's admission that it accepted big loans from 12 businessmen, some of whom were later nominated for seats in the unelected upper house of parliament.
The row is an embarrassment for a party which took power in 1997 pledging to be "whiter than white" after sleaze allegations damaged the previous Conservative government.
PA