U.K.’s Brown on the ropes

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown survived a rebellion within his Labor Party this week, following a dismal showing by Labor candidates in elections to local councils and the European Parliament. Labor captured less than 16 percent of the vote in the European elections and only 23 percent in local races last week, a record low. A dozen of Brown’s Cabinet ministers resigned in recent days, with some calling for his resignation. But Brown rebuffed additional calls for his ouster at a closed-door meeting with Labor MPs this week.

The prime minister and his party have been buffeted by the economic downturn and by outrage over reimbursements to members of parliament for personal expenses such as home furnishings and landscaping. Brown, who assumed his post just two years ago, must call a new election within a year.

Brown “suffered two critical blows,” said John O’Sullivan in the New York Post. First, his claim of competence on the economy was “shredded by the financial crisis” and by “sky-high spending and irresponsible borrowing.” Then, his “reputation for decency collapsed” after an aide was caught “spreading scurrilous sexual rumors about leading Tories.” Last week’s elections delivered the third and, likely, fatal blow.

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Does Brown “really deserve blame” for Britain’s woes? said Paul Krugman in The New York Times. “Yes and no.” Brown’s “zeal” for deregulation contributed to the meltdown. But “would a Conservative government have been any less in the thrall of free-market fundamentalism?” At least Brown is taking the right steps–shoring up banks and freeing up credit—to address the crisis.

Brown’s unpopularity isn’t helping Conservatives as much as you’d expect, said Alice Miles in the London Times. Conservatives swept local elections, but won “fewer votes in the European elections than they did five years ago.” Smaller parties, including the far-right National Party, stepped into the void. Conservatives are poised to win the next British election. But unless the economy turns around, they, too, “will be very unpopular very quickly.”