British Foreign Secretary David Miliband insisted today that the Labour leadership question was “settled” as ministers sought to draw a line under failed attempts to oust Gordon Brown.
The threat to the Prime Minister appeared to recede after he faced down a putative uprising at a crunch meeting of Labour MPs last night.
Mr Miliband, who is regarded as a likely successor to Mr Brown, said today he had never considered following James Purnell in quitting the Cabinet last week and urged his Labour colleagues to concentrate on taking the fight to the Tories at the next general election.
Apparently dousing talk of his own potential candidature for the leadership, he described Home Secretary Alan Johnson as “the leading contender”.
“The Parliamentary Labour Party has reached a settled view about the leadership,” Mr Miliband said.
“The Labour Party does not want a new leader, there is no vacancy, there is no challenger. The leading contender, Alan Johnson, is backing the Prime Minister to the hilt. So that is that.”
Despite catastrophic electoral results for Labour and a string of ministerial resignations, only a handful of backbench critics called for Mr Brown to quit last night.
At a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party, Mr Brown admitted to “weaknesses” and promised a fresh approach and new policies.
He also delivered a stark warning that the party risked returning to the wilderness if it succumbed to “disunity” and kicked him out.
Mr Miliband told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I always believed that the right thing to do was to remain in the Cabinet.
“I was clear that the right thing to do was to make sure that all of my energies were dedicated to making sure there was a progressive, clear, strong Labour project at the next election.” He said that, when news came through of James Purnell’s resignation on Thursday night, he had immediately assured Lord Mandelson that he would not follow his exit.
And he insisted that the “key” point was that Labour’s modernisation project from 1997 was only half complete.
“It’s half complete in respect of political reform, it’s half complete in respect of economic reform, it’s half complete in respect of social reform and, I believe, on the international agenda, it is half complete too.
“And what I want to work for, what the Prime Minister wants to work for, what the whole Cabinet will work for, is the completion of that project.” But, asked about the task facing Labour in the next election, he added: “The odds are stacked against us when we are trying to win a fourth term.”
Addressing Labour's 350 MPs a day after his party suffered a resounding defeat in European elections, Mr Brown yesterday expressed contrition but said he was determined to fight on as leader after one of the most difficult weeks of his premiership.
"I know I need to improve," Mr Brown told the MPs, according to a spokesman. "I have my strengths and I have my weaknesses. There are some things I can do well, some not so well.
"You solve the problem not by walking away but by facing it and doing something about it," he said, earning cheers and applause from the majority in the room, according to witnesses.
Several senior Labour members, including Charles Clarke, a former interior minister, called for Mr Brown to step down. However, most threw their weight behind him ahead of a general election due within a year which the Conservatives are tipped to win.
The head of Labour's parliamentary group, Tony Lloyd, said he now saw little chance of Mr Brown being ousted from office.
"I do not believe there will be any challenge to Gordon Brown within our party," he told Sky News.
Mr Brown critics at the meeting said the prime minister had been "put on probation," suggesting there would be no immediate further challenge to his leadership.
Minutes later, a former Labour cabinet minister called for Mr Brown to go.
"Now is the time for Gordon Brown to stand down as Labour leader and as prime minister," Stephen Byers, an ally of former prime minister Tony Blair, told a meeting of Labour activists.
Mr Brown, in power since 2007 when he took over from Mr Blair in mid-term, has been under pressure since a parliamentary expenses scandal caused popular disillusion with politics and, particularly, the party that has been in power for 12 years.
The unrest prompted six senior ministers to resign last week. Mr Brown reshuffled his cabinet but Sunday's European election results - giving Labour its smallest share of a national vote in 100 years - dealt a new blow to his authority.
An opinion poll in today's Independent newspaper may give ammunition to those wanting a new leader.
The ComRes survey found that the Conservatives would win a big parliamentary majority if Mr Brown leads Labour into the next election.
However, if interior minister Alan Johnson replaced Mr Brown, the Conservatives would fall six seats short of an overall majority. Johnson has pledged allegiance to Mr Brown.
Investors have been unsettled by talk of a leadership battle at a time of economic turmoil and soaring government borrowing.
The pound hit a near two-week low against the dollar yesterday after the election results raised the possibility of a Labour leadership challenge.