Brown will not quit if party loses majority

Labour trail in opinion polls behind the main opposition Conservatives but could still be the biggest single party.

LONDON, March 15, 2010 (AFP) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Monday he would stay on as leader of the Labour Party if they lose their parliamentary majority at the forthcoming general election.

Labour trail in opinion polls behind the main opposition Conservatives, but under Britain's voting system could still be the biggest single party, though without an overall majority.

Brown is widely expected to call a general election for May 6.

Asked on BBC radio if he would resign if Labour did not win a parliamentary majority, Brown replied: "I'll keep going because I want a majority."

He added: "I owe it to people to continue and complete the work that we have started of taking this country out of the most difficult financial recession."

Since the 1979 election, every losing Labour or Conservative leader has resigned after a general election, barring Labour opposition leader Neil Kinnock in 1987.

If Labour ended up as the largest party in a hung parliament, Brown would be entitled to stay on as prime minister and see whether he could survive a motion of confidence.

He might try to strike an agreement allowing him to form a minority or coalition government.

If Brown did not survive and the Conservatives formed an administration but could not survive a confidence motion, another election would almost certainly follow.

British politicians spent Sunday debating what position the Liberal Democrats, the third-biggest party, could play in a possible hung parliament, which has not happened since 1974.

Their leader Nick Clegg insisted he was not a "kingmaker" and reiterated that there would be no advance offers of support.

Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats are centre-left parties, with one government minister saying Sunday they were natural bedfellows.

However, Conservative front-bencher Ken Clarke reckoned Clegg could not risk plunging the financial markets into turmoil by bringing down a minority Conservative administration.

"Don't underestimate Gordon", The Times newspaper quoted an unnamed senior minister as saying. "Unless the rejection at the polls is large and personal, there is no reason for him to go quickly."

Conservative leader David Cameron has said "another five years of Gordon Brown would be a disaster" and his party will likely make it a main campaign warnings as they seek the landslide required to secure a parliamentary majority.