Gordon Brown retreated to the safety of a Labour activist meeting this afternoon as he braced himself for bad European election results.

But Tessa Jowell today became the first senior minister to suggest that he might stand down if he felt it was in the best interests of the party.

Asked on The World This Weekend programme, on BBC Radio 4, if Mr Brown would be prepared to step aside if his senior colleagues told him that it was time to go, Ms Jowell said: “Gordon Brown loves the Labour Party, he is Labour through and through.

“If Gordon Brown were to reach a conclusion that he personally was an obstacle to Labour’s recovery and achievement, then of course."

At a hastily convened rally in East London, the Prime Minister was urged by local party members to face down parliamentary critics and continue in the job.

The appearance showed Mr Brown, flanked by Harriet Harman and Lord Mandelson, more relaxed and included several Blair-style jokes, including the quip that Sarah Brown couldn't be there but had "not resigned".

Mr Brown used the meeting to vow that he would not “walk away” in the face of political and economic difficulties.

“What would they [the public] think of us if ever we walked away from them at a time of need? We are sticking with them,” he said.

“What has been happening over these last few months is a test not just of our character, a test not just of the Government, it is a test of our beliefs.

“If we believe that people should be responsible and people should act fairly and we should be fair to others, then it is our duty to make sure in our politics, in our economy, in our society, that’s what happens.”

Mr Brown was cheered loudly by his audience, which displayed clear anger at those in Westminster who have been trying to bring down the Prime Minister.

The boost for the Prime Minister — whose short-term position looks significantly more secure than it was five days ago — came after a morning in which another Labour heavyweight called for him to resign.

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