Gordon Brown Concedes Labour Leadership

Brown resigns as Labour leader, but not as PM -- yet

As Britain continues to wait to find out who will assume the role of government, and who will be Prime Minister following the May 6 election, one question surrounding the vote has been answered.

Gordon Brown has resigned as the leader of the Labour Party.

He conceded that Labour's failure to decisively win the 2010 General Election was a direct judgement on his leadership.

"I therefore intend to ask the Labour Party to set in train the processes needed for its own leadership election," Brown announced. "I would hope that it would be completed in time for the new leader to be in post by the time of the Labour Party conference."

Even while contenders line up to replace him, Brown will not support any of the candidates.

"I will play no part in that contest, I will back no individual candidate," he explained.

This comes at a most inopportune time for Labour, as their negotiators have been meeting with the Liberal Democrats to make their bid to form a government.

This places Labour in a quandry: if their overtures to the Lib Dems are to be successful, they'll have to promise a quality leader.

The candidates are already lining up.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Education Secretary Ed Balls are reportedly set to launch their leadership campaigns. Hull West-Hessle MP Alan Johnson is also being strongly pressured to join the contest.

David Miliband seems to be the favourite to become the next Labour leader. But contests like these seldom produce the self-evident winner. And with the prize at stake potentially being the privilege of occupying Number 10 Downing Street, one can expect that the contest will be fiercely contested.