Former construction minister says failure to oust Gordon Brown will lead to 'disastrous' result in general election

Former construction minister Nick Raynsford continued the assault on Gordon Brown over the weekend, calling for a leadership change during an appearance on the Andrew Marr show.

He told the programme that a failure to oust Brown could lead to a “disastrous general election” that would see Labour reduced to “an ineffective and very small opposition party”.

He said: “If you are looking at the situation of total disaster facing us, it is not good enough to say 'more of the same'. We have to be radical. We have to think of ways in which we can re-engage with the electorate.”

Nick Raynsford
Raynsford: "We have to be radical"

Renewed calls for Brown to step down started last night as it became clear that Labour had suffered its worst post-war defeat in the European elections as it was beaten into third place by UKIP.