Blair faces test of ability to hang on to power

Manchester (England), Sept 24: British Prime Minister Tony Blair faces a key test of his ability to hang on to power today as Finance Minister Gordon Brown seeks to allay doubts about his suitability to take over from Blair.

The annual conference of the ruling Labour Party opening today is crucial for both Blair and Brown, whose uneasy relationship has dominated British politics for nearly a decade.

Blair, who quelled a party revolt this month by pledging to step down within a year, will hope to shrug off pressure to go sooner than that.

He will focus instead on the need to renew the party to stave off the opposition Conservatives, who have taken the lead in opinion polls under youthful new leader David Cameron.

''Our continued success ... depends on us having the courage to continue the renewal of our party and our policies,'' Blair wrote in a report to conference delegates.

Blair, who on Tuesday addresses the conference as leader for the last time, has angered many Labour members with his backing for the US-led war on Iraq, his policies in the West Asia and his pro-market reforms of public services.

Party leaders are desperate to present a united front at the conference to avoid more damage to the party's image. But the leadership question is sure to dominate debate among delegates.

The get-together is equally critical for Brown, once seen as an automatic choice to succeed Blair but who could now face a fight for the top job after a former senior minister questioned whether he had the qualities to be prime minister.

Blair, who has led the Labour Party to three election wins since 1997, has faced speculation about when he will go ever since he said he would not seek a fourth term.

LABOUR REVOLT

He faced his most serious challenge yet when a number of Labour members of parliament wrote to him this month urging him to quit. Eight signatories later quit junior government jobs.

Pressure on Blair to step down remained strong on the streets and in opinion polls this weekend.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched around the conference venue in the northern English city of Manchester yesterday protesting at Blair's decision to send troops to Iraq and Afghanistan and calling for him to go.

An opinion poll in the Sunday Times found nearly two-thirds of people wanted Blair to set a timetable for his departure in his speech to the conference on Tuesday, while 69 per cent thought he should go by next spring.

Almost half thought Brown's conduct during the Labour leadership struggle raised questions over his fitness to be prime minister.

Another poll for ITV's ''Sunday Edition'' programme found that more than half of British voters wanted whoever replaces Blair to call a general election within six months of taking over.

In a BBC interview to be broadcast today, Brown again denied plotting against Blair and said the prime minister should be free to decide when he leaves.

In what seemed to be a conscious bid to deflect criticism from former Interior Minister Charles Clarke that he was a ''control freak'', Brown said he favoured more devolution of government powers and greater accountability to parliament.

Brown addresses the conference tomorrow, when he will be aiming to show that he has the charisma and vision to lead Britain.

REUTERS