Gordon Brown should be breathing a large sigh of relief over the fact that Jacqui Smith has apparently won over enough Labour backbenchers to stave off defeat. But it seems that Brown has reached that stage where all good news for him is qualified.
Smith’s impressive performance has led to Nick Robinson tipping her as a contender “to succeed Gordon after he stands down or maybe after he’s pushed.” So, even though Brown looks like avoiding the massive blow to his authority that would come from a Parliamentary defeat he still finds his position being undermined, albeit more subtly, by the chatter about who will be the next Labour leader.
PS Seeing as Smith’s majority is less than 3,000 she is far from certain to survive the next election, something that should be borne in mind when talking about her leadership chances.
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