Mark Fisher calls on Gordon Brown to stand down

MARK Fisher MP has called on Gordon Brown to stand down as Prime Minister and leader of the Labour party.

The Stoke Central MP said Mr Brown needed to understand the message of the crushing defeat Labour had suffered in yesterday's local election in which the party lost Stafforshire County Council to the Tories.

His comments come after four Cabinet ministers resigned their posts in recent days, and hours after Paul Farrelly said the party needed a change at the top.

Mr Farrelly said Mr Johnson, who it is rumoured may soon be offered the Home Secretary's job, would be a "safe pair of hands" and that the party needs a change at the top.

He said: "The person I wished had stood for the leadership before was Alan Johnson he is someone I respect greatly.

"He's a great communicator, he's human and he shows that from the way he run's the NHS – not with press releases, but with a safe pair of hands."

He said: "Things have moved on a lot over the last couple of days and I think Gordon needs to listen to the electorate – It's time for him to go.

"He was a good chancellor, but it's quite clear what the public feel – it doesn't take a clever person to realise that there needs to be a change."

Earlier today Paul Farrelly, MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, backed Mr Purnell's resignation as "courageous".

"I'm not particularly close to him personally or politically, but I think what he's done is a courageous act, and reluctantly and very sadly his assessment is correct," he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

"There have been too many mistakes and misjudgements over the last two years, so in the interests of the country and the Labour Party I think Gordon must really consider his position."