Today Hazel Blears has put yet another nail in the coffin of Gordon Brown. Her resignation and unsupportive statement, following on so soon from Jacqui Smith’s and just before an election is yet another brutal blow for Brown. Of course, he probably been planning to sack them in his reshuffle straight after the disastrous results expected in the election tomorrow but that they jumped the gun shows how little they think of him.

No matter how much they might want to save face, politicians usually feel enough of a duty to their party and leader to allow themselves to be dismissed from the Cabinet rather than jumping the gun and resigning.

It even appears that disloyalty is infectious, with Labour backbenchers circulating an email for signatures to send to Brown, calling for him to go:

We are writing now because we believe that in the current political circumstances you can best serve the interests of the Labour party by stepping down as prime minister.

Brown has lost his authority even over his own government. Can he really hold on to power for much longer? Even though he can’t be forced out as leader yet – and frankly who’d want the job, with an almost inevitable defeat on the horizon – he could be made to call a general election instead.

The sooner we get a resolution, the better.