Brown makes pledge to serve no more than one term

Gordon Brown has told his closest allies that he would serve as prime minister for a maximum of seven years after taking over the leadership from Tony Blair.

Mr Brown's closest colleagues are privately discussing his plans to fight the next election and, if he wins, serve a full term before quitting. That would give David Miliband, who has emerged as the "young pretender" and potential rival to the Chancellor, a chance to contest for the leadership again before he is 50.

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"Gordon is planning to do three years [to the next election] and four and then step down," said one of his closest friends. "That's seven years. That is what he says. You only have to look at Thatcher and Blair, who did 10 years. With today's 24-hour news, you don't get anything like 10 years before people turn against you. He knows that, and he won't make that mistake."

Mr Brown was under fire in the Commons yesterday after inflation rose to a 10-year high, and the Tories mounted a "no- confidence" vote on his conduct over a £5bn-a-year tax raid on pension funds, despite warnings by his own Treasury advisers of the consequences. George Osborne, the shadow Chancellor, accused Mr Brown of having "twisted and turned" to avoid the blame for the "great British pension theft".

Mr Brown challenged Mr Osborne to say that the Tories would restore dividend tax credit, but the shadow Chancellor refused to do so. "Is this not an example of short-termism," said Mr Brown to Labour cheers. Labour used its majority in the Commons to defeat the Tory censure motion, but there are continuing fears among Labour MPs that the damage done to Labour's standing could still cost them the next election under Mr Brown.

Blairites had stepped up the pressure on Mr Miliband in recent days to stand for the leadership, but signals that Mr Brown is prepared to step down after one full term in office may have persuaded Mr Miliband not to run when Mr Blair steps down.

The messages from the Brown camp led MPs to recall the "Granita" dinner, when Mr Blair persuaded Mr Brown not to run against him for the leadership after allegedly promising to step down in his second term. It was a promise that was never kept, and there will be no formal agreement between Mr Brown and Mr Miliband.

The Environment Secretary insisted yesterday that he was "not a candidate" in the race, and said the Chancellor was an "excellent prime minister-in-waiting". Mr Miliband's allies were also reported by the BBC to have made it clear that he definitely will not stand, despite the intense pressure from Blairites to do so.

Mr Brown's allies were confident that Mr Miliband will not stand, and said last night that he would be assured a key place at the cabinet table in the Brown government. "There's no point in Miliband standing. He knows he won't win, and he will get a good job. So what is the point in running? I have no doubt that he will not stand," said one former minister close to the Chancellor.