BROWN SOLDIERS ON.

THE plot to topple Gordon Brown was declared a failure after the prime minister survived a showdown with his MPs - despite the party's worst ever election results.

Allies of the beleaguered prime minister insisted the revolt had fizzled out after most backbenchers rallied around, giving him their backing at a stormy meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) last night.

Meanwhile, the long-rumoured "peasants revolt" by backbenchers evaporated.

But it is a badly damaged Mr Brown who limps on, battered by catastrophic Euro-election results and a devastating attack by Wavertree MP Jane Kennedy, who quit, warning Labour could cease to exist as a fighting force.

At the PLP, at least five Labour MPs - led by former Home Secretary Charles Clarke - demanded that he stand down, warning that Labour was doomed under his leadership.

But the majority of backbenchers threw their weight behind the prime minister, agreeing the party must unite to see the country through recession and deal with the expenses scandal.

Stephen Hesford, the Wirral West MP, asked if Labour MPs had turned on Mr Brown, replied: "That was not the mood of the meeting."