Path to premiership for UK's Brown looks clearer

LONDON, Nov 9: British Finance Minister Gordon Brown's path to the premiership looked clearer today as one of the few remaining potential challengers hinted he would not stand against him.

Education Secretary Alan Johnson, a former postman and union leader who some in the Labour Party support as an alternative candidate, appeared to back Brown when he said Britain's next prime minister should have ''experience, gravitas and intellect''.

''I don't possess any of these by the way,'' Johnson joked at a lunch with journalists.

He repeated an earlier endorsement of the chancellor of the exchequer to be Tony Blair's successor, saying: ''I think Gordon Brown would make an excellent prime minister.'' Johnson also said he did not think a contest between a number of Labour ministers, rather than a straight coronation of a leader, was necessarily good for the party.

If Johnson does rule himself out, the spotlight will turn to Home Secretary (Interior Minister) John Reid, a close Blair ally, who has yet to say whether or not he will stand.

Brown, finance minister since 1997, has long been the strong favourite to succeed Blair.

But some Labour parliamentarians fear Brown is too tainted by the Blair years and lacks the charisma to secure the party a fourth straight term in office in an election expected in 2009.

The Blair-Brown relationship has been fraught, and the prime minister himself has declined to fully endorse Brown as his successor, fuelling speculation he wants an ally to run. Blair was forced earlier this year to say he would step down within 12 months to stem a Labour rebellion against him, initiated in part by some Brown allies.

Among those ministers who have not ruled themselves out of the leadership race, Johnson and Reid are viewed in parliament as the only two who have a realistic chance of winning the support of the 44 Labour lawmakers needed to stand.

Labour lawmakers think Reid is biding his time to see how events unfold. Blair is not expected to stand down until after local council elections next May.

''John Reid is keeping his powder dry. Good politicians always hang fire until the day of judgment,'' said one.

So far, Brown's sole confirmed challenger is left-wing Labour lawmaker John Mcdonnell who may still struggle to get enough support for his candidacy.

Johnson declined today to confirm he would not stand against Brown, but is widely expected to announce in the next few days that instead he is throwing his hat into an increasingly crowded ring for Labour's deputy leadership.

He also said he did not think the British public wanted a ''slick performer'' who looked good on television for their prime minister, an apparent jibe at the Conservative Party's new telegenic leader David Cameron who has reenergised his party.

Reuters