Blair’s successor seals the deal

Gordon Brown secured his place as Britain’s next prime minister Thursday when he accepted the nomination as leader of the Labor Party with overwhelming backing from party members.

“I am truly humbled that so many of my colleagues have nominated me,” Brown said after the party’s left wing failed to muster enough support to force a contest.

“I will strive to earn your trust, not just in foreign policy, but to earn your trust in our schools, in our hospitals and in our public services,” Brown told the party after 313 Labor members of Parliament out of a possible 353 endorsed his leadership bid. The effective coronation of the centrist politician ends the prospect of a bruising internal fight over issues such as the Iraq war, Britain’s nuclear arsenal, a higher minimum wage and renationalization of the railways. Brown’s selection leaves him with a clear path to succeed Tony Blair, who is expected to step down June 27 after more than a decade as prime minister.

Brown will not officially take over the party until its conference on June 24.

Leftist lawmaker John McDonnell, who said he was hoping to force a debate and ensure that fellow party members had a vote on the leadership, acknowledged Wednesday night that he was 16 nominations short of the 29 members of Parliament needed to put him on the ballot.

“It is a great shame that Labor Party members will now not be allowed a vote on the leader of their party, or the party’s future direction,” McDonnell said in a statement. “The demand from Labor Party members to debate the issues that confront our country will not go away.”

Brown said the substantial support from Laborites demonstrated that the party is “wholly united” behind the centrist policies of New Labor, and also the party’s “determination not to retreat into the past.”

“My passion is education. My immediate priority is the [National Health Service]. The new challenges: affordable housing, building safe, secure and sustainable communities, and building trust in our democracy,” Brown told supporters.

The quick resolution of the leadership contest may reflect concern among party members that Blair’s growing unpopularity had put Labor behind in the polls, with general elections coming by the end of 2010.

Conservative Party leader David Cameron repeated his call for Blair to step down immediately and ridiculed Brown’s announced intention to tour the country over the next six weeks to take in the views of citizens.

Blair, meanwhile, was visiting President Bush in Washington on Thursday and planning to attend a meeting of the Group of 8 industrialized nations in Germany next month.

“We need an end to this ludicrous situation of having a caretaker government,” Cameron said. “We are going to have weeks of a prime minister on a farewell tour when the government should be getting on with the business of governing the country.”

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kim.murphy@latimes.com