Coup talk finds little favour in Bunyan's city

By Tim Castle

BEDFORD, England (Reuters) - Talk of a parliamentary plot to remove Gordon Brown as prime minister and replace him with a cabinet rival was greeted with little enthusiasm by voters in Bedford on Thursday.

People emerging from polling booths for local and European elections in the leafy city 45 miles (70 km) north of London said changing the leader of the Labour government was not the solution for Britain's political and economic woes.

They said Brown should instead either call a national election now or hang on in office until the end of his government's term a year from now.

If Brown's position looked precarious before voting -- two ministers this week announced they were quitting before a government reshuffle -- it got worse after polling booths closed at 10 p.m.

James Purnell, 39 and a rising star in the Labour Party, dropped a political bombshell by saying he also was standing down as work and pensions secretary and calling on Brown to resign to improve the party's general election chances

Brown's expected reshuffle, designed to restore his government's standing after what was expected to be a drubbing in Thursday's elections, now looks an even more complex task.

"The place is in such a mess he needs to stay and try and sort it out, changing now wouldn't help," said former university lecturer Peter Higginbottom, 55.

Reports said up to 75 Labour members of parliament (MPs) -- around a fifth of the total -- were ready to sign a letter calling on Brown to go although none had been identified yet.