In a dramatic move, Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Monday announced that he would be stepping down as leader of the Labour Party to allow it to open formal talks with the Liberal Democrats on power sharing.
The Lib Dems had reportedly made leadership change a condition for them to work with Labour.
The surprise announcement threatened to derail an imminent deal between the Conservatives and the Lib Dems that would have seen Tory leader David Cameron become Britain's next Prime Minister.
In a statement, which he read out from the steps of Downing Street, Mr. Brown said if it was in “national interest” for Labour and Lib Democrats to form a coalition government that would enjoy a majority in a hung Parliament he had “no desire to stay on longer than needed” to restore political and economic stability.
“I therefore intend to ask the Labour Party to set in train the processes needed for its own leadership election. I would hope that it would be completed in time for the new leader to be in post by the time of the Labour Party conference. I will play no part in that contest, I will back no individual candidate,” he said.
It was not clear when exactly Mr. Brown planned to resign but it appeared that he would stay on until his successor was elected. The process of electing another leader could be a prolonged affair, stretching until the party's annual conference in September.
Mr. Brown's announcement came barely hours after private talks between senior Labour and Lib Dem figures earlier in the day. Mr Brown also had a meeting with his Lib Dem, counterpart, Nick Clegg — their first face-to-face encounter since a rather unpleasant telephone conversation on Saturday.
Mr. Brown had been under pressure to quit since Labour's heavy defeat in last week's general election and there was speculation that he had been “pushed out” by those in the party who saw him as a stumbling block in a deal with the Lib Dems.
The BBC described it as an “audacious bid by Mr. Brown to keep Labour in power — and himself in power for a limited period” and said the Tories would be “furious.” There was no immediate official comment from the Tories but Mr. Clegg said negotiations with them would continue even as his party opened formal talks with Labour.
Earlier, on a day of fast-moving developments Mr. Cameron was reported to be “inching” towards No 10 amid claims that the “outline” of a power-sharing deal with the Lib Dems was “ready.”
