British political coup unearthed as "Project Volvo"

[Rania Elhoseny]

A plan recently unearthed to de-seat the former British prime minister has got Volvo all in a tizzy. And it all comes down to image.

Until just over a year ago, Gordon Brown (pictured above) was the British prime minister. That was before his Labour government was defeated by David Cameron's Conservative coalition. But before that, Brown spent ten long years as Chancellor of the Exchequer – the UK's equivalent to our Secretary of the Treasury and a traditional stepping stone to the premiership.

In that capacity, he served under longtime rival Tony Blair, but there were many who wanted to see Brown in the top office instead. Documents released this past weekend revealed their plan to oust Blair from 10 Downing Street (the PM's official residence) and install Brown in his place. The name of the plan: Project Volvo.

The orchestrated (but never implemented) internal party coup got its name from Brown's bland image, which his proponents likened to the Swedish cars. (Not exactly as sexy as Project Valkyrie, then.) The automaker, for its part, objects to the comparison, insisting that its products are far more charismatic and exciting than the British political leader. Which may very well be the case today, but old reputations die hard. As do the careers of British politicians, apparently. Follow the jump for the official press release