LABOUR supporters are tonight braced for disastrous European election results which would pile further pressure on Gordon Brown.

The Prime Minister today sought to reassert his authority over his party in a speech in east London, insisting he would not “walk away” in the face of political and economic difficulties.

However, the Government was preparing to take serious hits in the Euro vote, the results of which are due to be announced late this evening, with some predicting Labour would finish a third or even fourth, behind the Liberal Democrats and the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP).

Earlier, Lord Falconer, the former Lord Chancellor, became the most senior figure yet to call for a leadership contest, while Blairite former minister Stephen Byers, the MP for Tyneside North, said MPs had to decide whether Mr Brown was “a winner or a loser”.

Mr Brown sought to rally support with a televised address to a hastily arranged gathering of Labour activists.

He said the public would not understand if the Government gave up at a time when it was faced with the problems of tackling the recession and cleaning up Parliament.

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

“We have a purpose, we have a mission, we have a task ahead. We are going to get on with that task of building a better Britain.”

However, the next few hours are unlikely to be comfortable for the Prime Minister, with a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party, set for tonight(MON), set to be the scene of angry debate. A letter drawn up by rebel Labour MPs calling on Mr Brown to resign could be circulated around the corridors of Westminster today(MON).

Senior Cabinet ministers toured television and radio studios yesterday(SUN) to back their boss, with Lord Mandelson, the former Hartlepool MP, telling rebels to stop taking shots at him and warning if Mr Brown resigned, there would be an immediate General Election - a prospect sure to strike fear into MPs defending slim majorities, given the public anger over MPs' expenses.

However, Tessa Jowell became the first Cabinet minister to speculate openly that Mr Brown could be prepared to step aside if he believed that he had become an “obstacle” to Labour winning the next General Election.

The UK voted in the European and English local elections on Thursday. In the North-East, Labour had one MEP – Stephen Hughes. There was one Conservative, Martin Callanan, and one Liberal Democrat, Fiona Hall. Labour was expected to retain its single seat, although the Lib Dems were facing a challenge from UKIP and other minor parties such as the Greens and the British National Party were also expecting to poll well.

There were nervous Labour figures at the Sunderland Tennis Centre as the votes were being counted.

In Yorkshire and the Humber, Labour was also expected to do badly. It was defending two seats. The Conservatives also had two, the Liberal Democrats one and UKIP one.

* Results will be published as they come in on The Northern Echo website.