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PM in apology to city Labour party

Prime Minister Gordon Brown made a personal apology to the leader of Wolverhampton City Council for his party's collapse in the local elections, it was revealed today.

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Gordon BrownPrime Minister Gordon Brown made a personal apology to the leader of Wolverhampton City Council for his party's collapse in the local elections, it was revealed today.

Mr Brown made a phone call to Councillor Roger Lawrence to say "sorry" after its group followed national trends and lost a 12-seat majority in the city.

Labour's disaster in Wolverhampton leaves the city council hung and the grip on power is now in the hands of a five-strong group of Liberal Democrat councillors, who could form a power-sharing coalition with the opposition Tories.

Councillor Lawrence, who received the call on his mobile phone, said today: "The Prime Minister called me up on Monday and said he was very sorry about what happened in Wolverhampton, and that he would take responsibility for the national circumstances.

"I said there are local circumstances to take into account too. Whatever we do now, we need to get a sensible administration in place for the benefit of the city."

The phone call was part of attempts by the Prime Minister to reassert his authority amid a new survey that suggests most party members want him ousted.

Mr Brown came under further fire in the Commons this afternoon during Prime Minister's Questions, in which David Cameron accused him of having no coherent vision for the country and saying the Government was "lurching from one relaunch to another."

Wolverhampton's results were among Mr Brown's biggest embarrassments, with mayor Trudy Bowen and another seven of the group's councillors losing seats.

National Labour Party advisers believed that it would only lose overall control of Wolverhampton in a worst-case scenario, and that the city would most likely buck national trends like it did in 2004.

Councillor Lawrence has vowed to stay on as leader of a minority administration.

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