UK expenses scandal

Brown told an emergency press conference Friday that he would not walk away from his post and would "get on with the job.

"Service to the country is more important than service to self or even to party," Brown said, while acknowledging the damage caused by a recent scandal over lawmakers' expenses.

He admitted however that the incumbent Labour Party was heading for a "painful defeat" after local and European elections held on Thursday. Labour recently suffered a string of losses in council elections.

The press conference followed a major cabinet reshuffle, which Brown hoped would ensure his political survival in the face of open challenges to his authority and the electoral setbacks.

More ministers resign

The cabinet facelift had not been expected until next week, but was brought forward after three more cabinet ministers quit Brown’s government with 24 hours. The resignations of Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell, Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon and Employment Secretary Tony McNulty brought the total number of ministers to step down in the past week to nine.

"I now believe that (Gordon Brown’s) continued leadership makes a Conservative victory more, not less, likely. That would be disastrous for our country," Purnell wrote in his resignation letter late Thursday.

"I am therefore calling on you to stand aside and give our party a fighting chance of winning. As such I am resigning from government." Brown himself only found out about Purnell's resignation around the time it was made public, and as polls for European and local elections were closing across the country.

"His focus over the coming days will be on restructuring the government on the big challenges facing the country for the future," a spokesperson for Brown said.

"How we guide the economy through the downturn and strengthen it for the future; how we push ahead with reform of and investment in our public services; and how we renew trust in our democracy and parliament."

News that Europe Minister Caroline Flint was also quitting her non-cabinet post broke as Brown was speaking at the press conference.

Flint launched an extraordinary attack against Brown after stepping down, accusing him of operating "a two-tier government: your inner circle and the remainder of the cabinet."

Political storm in Britain amid abuse revelations

In recent weeks, the Labour Party and the other main parties have been humiliated by a spending scandal with reports of expense account abuse by members of parliament. Public outrage against these abuses and the government's handling of the economic meltdown has led some to call for early elections, which are due within a year.

Brown was already expected to shuffle his government after Thursday's elections, but Communities Secretary Hazel Blears and Home Secretary Jacqui Smith pre-empted him by announcing their own resignations.

In response to Purnell's letter, Conservatives stepped up their calls for national elections. Conservative leader David Cameron said Purnell's departure meant Brown's government was "falling apart in front of our eyes."

Earlier rumors that Brown was quitting were described as "absolute nonsense" by his office. But even the suggestion of a resignation was enough for the pound to drop three cents against the dollar within minutes.

A rising star challenges his boss

Although Purnell had been described as rising star within the Labour Party, he claimed his move was not motivated out of self-ambition or as part of a greater plot to overthrow Brown.

"I am not seeking the leadership nor acting with anyone else," he wrote. "My actions are my own considered view, and nothing more."

British citizens cast their votes Thursday to fill 72 seats in the European Parliament as well as to choose 2,318 local councilors and three mayors. Opinion and early exit polls suggest that Labour is in for a pummeling both locally and at the EU level.

dfm/hf/mrm/AFP/Reuters
Editor: Nancy Isenson/Trinity Hartman