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Benn's candidacy for deputy party leader caused fierce controversy among members of Labor's left-wing Tribune Group, which has tried to persuade him to reconsider his plans. The reason: leftists within the party are afraid that a defeat for Benn at the annual Labor Party conference next September will mean a setback for their policies. Says leftist M.P. Eric Heffer, who up until now has been a staunch supporter of Benn: "We must not believe that any one individual must be blindly followed."
Benn has adamantly refused to back down. A full-scale intraparty war over his challenge now seems inevitable. Already the lines are being drawn in the unions, where leftist support for Benn is concentrated at the shop steward level. Most union barons, who wield unprecedented power over the selection of party leaders under the new rules, are inclined to support Healey. Electricians Union Chief Frank Chappie, a right-wing maverick, has gone so far as to call Benn a "little Stalin advocating a socialist commonwealth along the lines of Russia and Eastern Europe." The struggle ahead for the Labor Party will be long and divisive. Benn's candidacy has gathered enough steam to mute opposition from fellow militants for the moment. Ultimately the outcome could depend not so much on whether the moderates can defend themselves, but on whether the left can stay unified when real political power is within its reach. —By Russ Hoyle. Reported by Bonnie Angelo and Arthur White/London