Blair Tries to Contain Revolt in Own Party As 8 Quit Government
Junior Members Urge Premier to Resign

By Kevin Sullivan and Mary Jordan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, September 7, 2006

LONDON, Sept. 6 -- Prime Minister Tony Blair, the second-longest-serving British leader since the 19th century, struggled to contain a growing political rebellion Wednesday, as eight junior members of his government resigned amid new demands for him to set a date for his departure or step down now.

"I no longer believe that your remaining in office is in the interest of either the party or the country," said the resignation letter of Tom Watson, the highest-ranking of the eight Labor Party legislators who quit Blair's government.

Blair, whose once-soaring popularity has been badly damaged by the war in Iraq and his close alliance with President Bush, finds himself in a predicament reminiscent of that faced in 1990 by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. After serving nearly 12 years, a defiant Thatcher was ousted in a rebellion by members of her Conservative Party, bringing a graceless end to her historic premiership.

"The sooner Blair goes, the more honorable his exit will be. The best course is to leave immediately," said Vernon Bogdanor, a professor of government at Oxford University.

The timing is dominating political debate in Britain in the weeks leading up to the annual meetings of the major political parties.

Blair, who has said he will not seek reelection to a fourth term, has repeatedly declined to name a date for his departure, saying it would only embolden his critics to demand his immediate resignation. But he is expected as early as Thursday to more clearly spell out when he is leaving.

He has promised to resign in ample time for his successor, most likely Chancellor Gordon Brown, to prepare for the general election that must be held no later than 2010.

Several of Blair's top cabinet ministers, including Environment Secretary David Miliband, a close ally, said this week that Blair would probably leave in about a year, which analysts interpreted as a signal from Blair. Other published reports said Blair might leave next summer, or next May after the 10th anniversary of his landslide 1997 election.

Adding to the frenzy of speculation was the publication this week of a memo, written by Blair aides, outlining a series of television appearances, speeches and interviews to mark Blair's final days: "He needs to go with the crowds wanting more," the memo said. "He should be the star who won't even play that last encore."

But Blair's future turned from parlor game to political crisis on Wednesday with the surprise resignations of the former loyalists.

His Downing Street office said that more than 80 other Labor members of Parliament had signed a letter saying they were satisfied with the schedule described by Miliband. But analysts called the resignations proof that Blair's ability to govern was slipping. They also follow the decision of nearly 40 British Muslims to quit the Labor Party in protest of Blair's support of Israel in its recent military campaign in Lebanon.

"There's great hostility in the Labor Party for Blair's support for Israel" in the Lebanon conflict, Bogdanor said. Party members felt that they were not consulted over the issue and that Blair followed "too blindly in the path of the Americans" while opinion polls showed the British public believed that "Israel's actions were disproportionate," he said.

One of the people who resigned from the government Wednesday, Mark Tami, said in an interview that "my concern is the great uncertainty hanging over the government. All everyone wants to talk about is when he's going, and we have to move on."

Another member of the group, Chris Mole, said in an interview that Blair should leave "sooner than later" to make way for Brown because "he has lost the confidence of his party at large and the people in the country in general."

Mole said that was partly because "all leaders become unpopular over time." But he said the "intense speculation" about Blair's future meant that "whatever initiative he tries to talk about is ignored and swept aside."

In his resignation letter to Blair, Watson, a junior minister involved in defense issues, expressed "greatest sadness," praised Blair for "visionary" leadership and said "the nation owes you an incalculable debt." But, he said, "I share the view of the overwhelming majority of the party and the country" that the party must "renew its leadership."

The resignations clearly angered Blair, who issued a statement within minutes of Watson's resignation saying he had planned to fire him. "Had he come to me privately and expressed his view about the leadership, that would have been one thing," Blair said. "But to sign a round robin letter which was then leaked to the press was disloyal, discourteous and wrong."

Blair later released a written response to Watson defending his government. "We are three years from the next election. We have a strong policy platform. There is no fundamental ideological divide in the Labor Party for the first time in 100 years of history," he wrote. " . . . To put all this at risk in this way is simply not a sensible, mature or intelligent way of conducting ourselves if we want to remain a governing party."