GORDON Brown's succession as Prime Minister seems almost assured now the last remaining Labour "big hitter" has stood aside.

John Reid says he will not oppose the Chancellor's bid to succeed Tony Blair because there is "no eagerness" in the Labour Party for a contest. That may be true, but what about the rest of the country?

Exasperated by the assumption that Mr Brown would assume the top job when Mr Blair left office, Charles Clarke warned that Labour would be "sleepwalking to disaster" if it did not seize the political initiative from David Cameron's resurgent Tory Party.

Mr Brown's only likely challenger, the left-winger Michael Meacher, is right when he says that we need a public debate about the future direction of a post-Blair government.

He hit the nail on the head when he said: ''It's not just a question of changing the face, it's a question of reinvigorating, exciting the enthusiasm and imagination of our supporters."

But his time is past and he isn't the man to do it. Maybe John Reid was the man to try, or perhaps his predecessor at the Home Office Charles Clarke, or even David Miliband, but, one-by-one, they have stepped aside.

Mr Clarke and Alan Milburn hoped to ignite a debate by launching a website but, so far, the response has been muted.

Last week's local election results did not make comfortable reading for Mr Brown.

Far from being "a perfectly good springboard to go on and win the next General Election", as Mr Blair believes, if they were repeated the Tories would be handed a handsome Parliamentary majority.

Mr Brown's supporters talk confidently of a raft of announcements and reforms during his first 100 days as PM.

But surely the party and the wider electorate have the right to know what's on the Chancellor's mind before he moves his furniture into Number Ten?