British Prime Minister Tony Blair's government faced fresh charges of abusing its power yesterday after a powerful Cabinet minister, who is also head of Britain's judiciary, lobbied lawyers for political donations.
The row took the shine off a pre-election conference of Blair's Labour Party on the weekend when the prime minister told party workers they should not take a win for granted.
Opposition Conservatives demanded the resignation of Lord Alexander (Derry) Irvine, the Lord Chancellor, saying he had abused a traditionally neutral office to raise funds for Labour ahead of a general election Blair is expected to call in May.
Irvine, who has the power to appoint judges from within the legal profession, asked barristers and solicitors at a Feb. 7 Labour fundraising dinner to pledge a minimum of ?200 (US$290) each "to ensure a second term" in office for Blair.
"There are suspicions of cash-for-wigs here," Conservative Chairman Michael Ancram said. "The office of the Lord Chancellor needs to be protected and the way to achieve that is for Lord Irvine to resign." Britain's top judges and barristers traditionally wear wigs in their court appearances.
Trying to claw back Blair's double-digit opinion poll lead, William Hague's Conservatives have jumped on any sign that Blair has fallen short of a pledge to end Conservative "sleaze" when he swept to power in the landslide 1997 election.
Irvine, Blair's mentor in his first career as a lawyer, came under fire barely a month after another key Blair ally, Peter Mandelson, was forced to quit the Cabinet in a row over an Indian billionaire's application for a British passport.
Europe minister Keith Vaz still faces questions over his role in the passport affair.
"No wonder voters now think Labour is sleazier than the Tories," raged Britain's best-selling Sun newspaper.
Irvine's political clout stems from the fact that more than 20 years ago he gave Blair his first job as a novice barrister, and in the process introduced him to another aspiring young lawyer, Cherie Booth, his future wife.
Under Britain's unwritten constitution he combines roles that in most countries would be split among minister of justice, chief justice and speaker of the upper house of parliament.
That concentration of power may have tempted him once into comparing himself injudiciously to the powerful 16th century Cardinal Wolsey, builder of Hampton Court Palace and right-hand man to King Henry VIII.
His public image was also dented by controversy in 1997 when he had the Lord Chancellor's residence refurbished at a cost of ?650,000 (US$942,000), including handmade wallpaper at ?300 a roll and three beds costing ?49,773.
Irvine was a member of Blair's trusted inner circle who reportedly advised the prime minister that Mandelson's position as Northern Ireland Secretary was untenable after he gave inconsistent accounts of his role in the passport affair.
Blair's officials declined to comment yesterday.
His spokesman Alastair Campbell said before the weekend that it was no secret Irvine was a Labour supporter "therefore hosting a fundraising dinner for the Labour Party is not terribly newsworthy."
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