Labour vice chair sacked over leadership row
Joan Ryan has been axed after calling for a leadership election
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Sunday, 14, Sep 2008 09:24
Labour vice chair Joan Ryan MP has become the second Labour minister to leave her job after calling for a party leadership contest.
Ms Ryan, who held a position as one of prime minister Gordon Brown's more senior aids, has also been removed as the party's Cypriot envoy.
Earlier on Saturday, Ms Ryan joined junior whip Siobhain McDonagh in calling for a leadership election, telling the BBC's Today programme that "a lot of people feel the same way" but are afraid to speak out in favour of a vote.
"I find it very hard. I'm a loyalist to my government," Ms Ryan said.
"I have never voted against my government. This is a very hard thing to do.
"But I actually feel now this is the most responsible thing I can do and I would be irresponsible if I didn't now speak up."
Ms McDonagh was forced to resign when she called for a "real debate about... the issues facing us".
She wrote a letter ten days ago, in confidence, seeking details about the process through which nominations for a leadership election take place.
It was the first time a member of the government had openly called for challengers to confront Mr Brown about the party's leadership, although Ms Ryan's voice could now spark further calls.
A government spokesman said Ms McDonagh was not fired but had "acknowledged that her actions were a resigning matter".
He said she would be replaced by Brent South MP Dawn Butler, adding that Ms McDonagh had always been "anti-Gordon".
"I think we need a leadership election. Anyone who wants to stand should stand," Ms McDonagh had said.
"We should have a discussion about what direction the party is going in. It's about time we allowed party members and people involved in the wider community in on that."
Assistant whip Ms McDonagh, the MP for Mitcham and Morden, was the most senior of a group of Labour party members who have inquired about the nomination process.
She said she had "never voted against the government" in 11 years but that "every morning I get up and think, perhaps it has to be people like me to say, come on, I think we have to have this debate".
It is not yet clear whether Ms McDonagh's call will attract widespread support among the parliamentary Labour party.
But it will be another step backwards for Mr Brown's premiership, which is currently seeking to recover its momentum following the announcement of an energy package yesterday.
So far, five Labour MPs - Fiona Mactaggart, George Howarth and Janet Anderson, as well as Ms Ryan and Ms McDonagh - have asked for leadership nomination forms to be sent out.
Two other fellow MPs, Graham Stringer and Gordon Prentice, have also publicly called for a leadership contest.
A motion for an official vote would require the support of 70 MPs and comes less than a week before the Labour party conference begins in Manchester on September 20th.