Mandelson accused of 'botched coup'

Peter Mandelson was accused yesterday of mounting a "botched coup" after he called for someone to challenge Gordon Brown in the coming Labour Party leadership contest.

Mr Mandelson, a former cabinet monister and now a European commissioner, suggested that, without a contest, Mr Brown's position would be like that of Michael Howard, who became Tory leader in 2003 without a challenge, and went on to lose the election. Mr Mandelson also suggested that the choice of leader should be made by a younger generation of MPs, and not by old hands such as the Leader of the Commons, Jack Straw, who will run Mr Brown's campaign.

The Brown camp welcomed Mr Mandelson's intervention. "It has set off a backlash, and it's causing people to line up for Jack's campaign who might not otherwise have done so," one aide said. "People are already talking about it as a botched coup." They are thought to include several of the leading members of the new generation of MPs, the Home Office minister Liam Byrne, the Health minister Andy Burnham, and the Local Government minister Angela Smith.

Mr Mandelson is thought to be the "senior Blairite" who told yesterday's Observer that Tony Blair believed the Environment Secretary, David Miliband, could win Labour's leadership contest if he entered it "with conviction". The claim was denied by Downing Street.

Mr Mandelson told the BBC's Sunday AM programme that it was "obvious" that Mr Brown should be challenged. "Some of Gordon's supporters say that a contest would be divisive. Election contests are not necessarily divisive. It depends on how they are conducted."

He said the public did not know whether Mr Brown intended to lead the party "in the New Labour way" or to be "a more Labour Party animal" and that the only way to clear up these doubts would be "by setting out his stall and giving the public a sense of ownership".

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