BRITAIN:Peter Hain's hopes of political survival rested last night on whether two official inquiries will rebuke him for his failure to declare £103,000 (€135,500) of donations to his deputy leadership campaign or question the credibility of his explanations.
The British parliamentary commissioner for standards, John Lyon, formally told work and pensions secretary Mr Hain yesterday that he will conduct an inquiry that is likely to take weeks rather than months.
The British electoral commission is due to publish an interim report - possibly within days - into the legality of the source of his donations.
Mr Hain, who is also secretary for Wales, insisted he was co-operating fully with both inquiries and had nothing to hide.
The shadow work and pension secretary, Chris Grayling, demanded to know if Mr Hain's permanent secretary in Wales had cleared his conduct and questioned why some of the money raised to pay off his campaign debts had come from a non-functioning think tank, the Progressive Policies Forum.
Ian Gibson, the left-wing Labour MP for Norwich North, called on Mr Hain to quit, saying he should feel ashamed that he had let the side down.
However, Mr Hain won the backing of his old union, the Communication Workers' Union, his local Neath party and one of the most high-profile campaigners for pensioners' justice, Ross Altman. British prime minister Gordon Brown said the work and pensions secretary was a great minister, but indicated his fate lay with the outcome of the official inquiries - a strictly limited form of support.
Mr Hain is bound to come under renewed scrutiny tomorrow, when he will face questions in the Commons in his role as secretary of state for Wales.
The mood on the back benches was broadly supportive, even if some were angry at such a large oversight.
Arriving in London yesterday, Mr Hain stressed he would co-operate with any inquiry.
"I've been open and clear about this from the beginning, when I discovered these donations had been made late," he said.
"I told the public, I told you in the media, I told the relevant authorities - the parliamentary commissioner for standards and also the electoral commission."
His local party in Neath will meet tomorrow to back their MP.