Two British Labour politicians and former Cabinet ministers called on Wednesday for a secret ballot on incumbent Prime Minister Gordon Brown's leadership, Sky News said.
Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt reportedly addressed the members of the Labour party with an open letter, asking them to support the poll.
"As we move towards a General Election it remains the case that the Parliamentary Labour Party is deeply divided over the question of the leadership," the politicians were quoted as saying on the TV channel's website.
Hoon and Hewitt said they "come to the conclusion that the only way to resolve this issue would be to allow every member to express their view in a secret ballot."
Recent public polls have showed that the popularity of the Labour Party, led by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, has dropped significantly over the past few months, which means the party could loose the country's parliamentary elections due in the spring. Some analysts say Gordon Brown's policies have been a reason of the party's popularity plunge.
According to Sky News, the two ex-ministers said in their letter "the continued speculation and uncertainty is allowing our opponents to portray us as dispirited and disunited," adding "it is giving our political opponents [the Conservative Party] an easy target."
However, Downing Street reportedly said the Labour Party did not want the vote and described the proposal as "ludicrous."
The party's chairman, Tony Lloyd, said the two politicians had "very little support" for their campaign, while the chairman of the Conservative Party, Eric Pickles, said: "Ministers are more concerned about saving their own political skin than actually getting Britain out of the monumental mess we are in."
LONDON, January 6 (RIA Novosti)
