Sunday roundup of plotting and intrigue

As Gordon Brown starts his holidays most of the Sunday's believe that MP's are plotting to get rid of him and it seems that Jack Straw may well be in the frontseat to take over.

The Sunday Times leads with the story that

POWERFUL cabinet ministers who see themselves as potential successors to Gordon Brown are secretly plotting against him despite public protestations of loyalty.

and adds that

Senior MPs are running a campaign on behalf of Jack Straw, the justice secretary, to collect names for a possible leadership bid.
A backbencher has told how he had been approached by George Howarth, the former Home Office minister and a friend of Straw.

The Observer says that

Gordon Brown was accused last night of desperately attempting to buy off a deadly cabinet revolt, after it emerged that Labour's chief whip, a key player in any attempt to oust him, is being lined up for a plum job in Europe.
Geoff Hoon has come under heavy pressure, alongside the Justice Secretary, Jack Straw, to lead a delegation asking Brown to quit for the good of his party. But it has emerged that Hoon is hot favourite to succeed Peter Mandelson as European Commissioner next year.

and the Telegraph ramps up the pressure with its latest opinion poll

showing the Conservatives enjoying a 24-point lead among voters in key marginal constituencies

and adds

The survey, conducted in 30 vital "swing" seats across the country, puts David Cameron's party on 41 per cent of the vote.
Support for Labour has slumped to 17 per cent, putting the party in third place behind the Liberal Democrats, who are on 18 per cent. When a poll of the same marginals was undertaken 12 months ago, Labour was six points ahead of the Tories

And the Independent reveals that

in a highly significant development, it emerged that two of the youngest stars in the Cabinet, James Purnell and Andy Burnham, will give Mr Miliband a free run for the top job in the event of a contest. Mr Purnell in particular had been tipped as a strong contender to rival Mr Miliband.
The move – dubbed the "Primrose Hill Pact" for its echoes with the purported 1994 Granita deal between Tony Blair and Mr Brown – allows the Foreign Secretary to emerge as a clear contender from the Blairite, modernising wing of the Labour Party.