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Pressure on PM as minister quits Pressure on PM as minister quits
(10 minutes later)
James Purnell has become the third cabinet minister to resign as pressure grows on Gordon Brown's leadership of the Labour Party. James Purnell has stepped down from the cabinet and told Prime Minister Gordon Brown to "stand aside"
The work and pensions secretary said in a letter to the Sun and Times he was stepping down to trigger a debate. In a letter to the Sun and the Times, the work and pensions secretary said he was not seeking the leadership but wanted to trigger a debate.
The home secretary and communities secretary had already announced they were standing down from cabinet. Mr Purnell is the third cabinet member to announce in the past few days they are standing down from cabinet.
Mr Brown is set to reshuffle his cabinet as he fights to survive as prime minister.Mr Brown is set to reshuffle his cabinet as he fights to survive as prime minister.
In his letter, Mr Purnell said he owed it to the Labour Party to "say what I believe no matter how hard that may be".
He said Mr Brown's continued leadership of the party made a Conservative victory at the next general election "more not less likely".
BBC political editor Nick Robinson said it was the first direct challenge to Mr Brown from a cabinet minister.
Mr Purnell's resignation was a message to the rest of the Labour Party to make up their minds about Mr Brown's leadership, he said.
The news comes as the polls close across the UK for the European elections, the last big test of opinion ahead of a general election.
In England people have also been voting in 27 county and seven unitary council elections - and for three mayors.
Speaking as the polls closed, senior Labour backbencher Barry Sheerman told the BBC there should be a ballot of Labour MPs to see if Gordon Brown still has the confidence of the party.
He told the BBC: "Many of my colleagues, all over the Palace of Westminster, are e-mailing each other and phoning each other.
"This goes far beyond just a few people, this is a large number of us who are really unhappy about the present situation.
"We would love to have a secret ballot so that we can express our views in the confidence that there would be no recriminations whatever way the vote went."
But asked about the idea of a ballot on BBC One's Question Time, Labour's leader in the Lords Baroness Royall, said: "If that's Barry Sheerman's view I don't happen to agree with it. I believe at this moment in transparency and freedom of information."
She defended Mr Brown's style of leadership and said he could relate to people: "We haven't got a media star, we have got a person who works damned hard and is taking us through the economic crisis."