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Benn's challenge sparked a desperate counterattack from the party's right wing. Former Education Secretary Shirley Williams railed at the "fascism of the left," scoffed at what she called Benn's "rubbish" and delivered an acid putdown: "I wonder why Tony is so unambitious —it only took God six days to make the world." As militants booed, she issued a virtual war cry to fellow moderates: "It's time to come up, to stick your head over the parapet and start fighting. Otherwise you won't have a party worth the name."
Callaghan tried to remain above the fray. Amid widespread rumors that he would soon step down as party leader, the 68-year-old former Prime Minister delivered what appeared to be a lofty valedictory. Though he skirted the prickly constitutional issues that divided the conference, Callaghan argued strenuously against unilateral nuclear disarmament or withdrawal from NATO. "I beg of you," he implored. "I don't believe the Labor movement will say, 'Stop the world, we want to get off.' " Most of all, he called for harmony. Exclaimed Callaghan: "For pity's sake, stop arguing! The public is crying out for unity!"
But any semblance of unity was shattered when the conference turned to vote on the internal constitutional issues. The first two ballots produced a tradeoff: the right retained control over the party manifesto, while the left won out on its demand that M.P.s must submit to renomination by the constituency parties midway through their terms.
Bitterness intensified over the question of how the party leader should be chosen. By a narrow margin, the left stripped the Labor M.P.s of their exclusive right to choose the leader. The vote prompted wild cheering from the open-shirted militants. But no flicker of expression betrayed the feelings of Denis Healey, 63, the tough former Chancellor of the Exchequer, whose front-running chances to succeed Callaghan were now jeopardized by the sudden rules change.
When it came to deciding what kind of electoral college would choose the leader, chaos erupted. Terry Duffy, 58, moderate head of the huge Union of Engineering Workers, urged his membership to vote against all the radical proposals. But his angry left wing revolted, and fistfights broke out on the conference floor. A compromise formula drafted by the N.E.C. was also voted down the following day, leaving the question to be decided by a special party conference in January.
Thus Callaghan, instead of being allowed to bow out gracefully, now faces fierce pressures from both sides. The left wants him to stay on until they can marshal their resources for a leader of their liking; the right wants him to leave immediately to get Healey in place as leader before the conference. Callaghan gives no hints—except to declare openly, "If Tony Benn is foisted on the parliamentary Labor Party, it would be a disaster." —By Thomas A. Sancton. Reported by Bonnie Angela/Blackpool