Grumbling on the terrace as another by-election crisis looms

The grumbling behind Gordon Brown's back is now getting out of hand on the MPs' terrace of the House of Commons.

Labour MPs and Ministers have been packing the terrace between votes on these hot summer nights, and while Gordon's pal Ed Balls flits around, and Chief Whip Geoff 'Buff' Hoon surveys the troops, all the talk over the Pimm's is about what they can do to save their seats.

"I know I am going to lose my seat," said one disgruntled veteran Labour MP. "I've told my party, 'If you've got £10,000 don't spend it on this election - save it for the next one. You will need it'."

The most popular solutions being punted about the terrace by what increasingly sounds like a defeated army are (a) force Brown to step down in favour of a new leader and (b) appoint an effective Deputy Prime Minister fast.

The trouble with option A is that if they pick a young leader such as David Miliband (and there is no consensus on who it should be) it will bring forward the threat of a general election, which, given the Tory lead in the polls, would make it little short of a suicide pact.

So Option B is the favoured plan. The two names being touted around the terrace are Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, the nearest Labour now has to a 'grey beard' - someone with a degree of gravitas and commonsense - and Alan Johnson, who is generally seen to have pulled off a coup with the health reforms.

One sticking point is Harriet Harman. She was elected deputy leader of the party last year, and will be furious if she doesn't get the DPM's job. But Labour MPs think hurting Harriet's feelings is the last of their worries.

Meanwhile, Brown faces another by-election crisis on July 24 in Glasgow East, the seat being vacated by the veteran Scottish Labour MP David Marshall.

Although it is the third safest Labour seat north of the border, the Phi100 panel - the group of politicos who accurately predicted Boris Johnson's victory in London, as well as the outcomes of the recent Crewe and Henley by-elections – believes the SNP will take the seat from Labour.

Summer on the terrace is notoriously difficult for governments in trouble, and this one looks like being a hot one.

THE MOLE: PM UNDER SIEGE

FIRST POSTED JULY 2, 2008