Family called

to bedside as

First Minister

is put on

life-support

machine

FIRST Minister Donald Dewar was fighting for his life in hospital early today after an apparently innocuous fall on the pavement outside his official residence in Edinburgh.

Mr Dewar, 63, was critically ill, and on a life-support machine in the intensive care unit of the capital's Western General Hospital, with bleeding to his brain.

His children, Ian and Marion, have been informed and were travelling from their homes in London and Brussels to the hospital, which has a specialist neurological unit.

A hospital spokesman said no decision would be made about surgery until his family were present. His daughter is due to arrive from Belgium later this morning.

Mr Dewar's stumble may have caused, or been caused by, a suspected brain haemorrhage. He had been on blood-thinning drugs as a consequence of his recent heart operation, and it appeared that this played a factor in the bleeding.

It also took five hours from the time of his accident until he was admitted to hospital, primarily because, in typical fashion, he played down its significance.

His spokesman, Mr David Whitton, told a news conference: ''Mr Dewar being Mr Dewar, didn't want a fuss to be made. He said he was OK.''

A Downing Street spokeswoman said Prime Minister Tony Blair was last night being kept informed of Mr Dewar's condition. His illness will almost certainly have ended his political career.

Shocked political friends and opponents last night joined in passing on their best wishes to the First Minister. His official duties will be performed meantime by Deputy First Minister Jim Wallace.

Mr Dewar was transferred under police escort to the neurosurgical unit of the Western General after his condition deteriorated rapidly at Edinburgh's Royal Infirmary shortly after 7pm.

Speaking to journalists on the steps of the hospital last night, Mr Whitton said Mr Dewar was ''seriously ill'' and had been sedated. By 9pm, Mr Dewar was critically ill and on a life support machine.

He added: ''They don't know whether or not he will have to undergo brain surgery. I think you can say his condition is now seriously ill.''

Initial tests involving a CAT brain scan were carried out as fears surfaced that Mr Dewar had damaged a blood vessel in his head following the fall outside his official residence in Edinburgh yesterday at noon.

Mr Whitton said: ''He was put under sedation for the scan and he has been intubated. As a result of what they found in the CAT scan, we are now transferring him to the Western General.''

Doubts were hanging over whether surgeons would have to operate on the First Minister last night, as it emerged that medication prescribed to him could be linked to the bleeding on the brain.

It was unclear whether the fall had actually caused the damage to a blood vessel in his head, as it is known that Mr Dewar was looking tired and drawn last week while carrying out his duties.

The health scare was sparked after the morning Scottish Executive Cabinet meeting at the First Minister's official residence at Bute House in Charlotte Square.

The meeting finished around 10.45am and Mr Dewar moved into his sitting room to do some work. He was due to go to St Andrew's House for a lunch engagement and a meeting and it was as he was leaving around noon that he slipped on the sloping pavement outside Bute House.

''He gave himself quite a shake,'' Mr Whitton said. But the First Minister did not bump his head in the fall when he slipped on the pavement, only grazing his left wrist.

Mr Whitton added that Mr Dewar was keen to play down the incident. He added: ''He said he didn't want a fuss to be made. But it was clear to those of us sitting with him that he was not going to be all right, and we wanted him checked over.''

Mr Whitton explained: ''He put himself in the front of the car and then came back to St Andrews House for the luncheon engagement, then he had another meeting.''

It was after this meeting, at around 3.15pm, that Mr Dewar started to feel unwell and the medical team began their work.

By 7.30pm, tests revealed that the condition of Scotland's First Minister was serious. He was transferred, heavily sedated, under police escort to the Western General Hospital, one of the leading specialist hospitals for neurological injuries and treatment.

Mr Dewar's illness has prompted both speculation over the succession, and recriminations over who was to blame for his workload.

Labour now face a difficult by-election in Falkirk West in the short-term, the need to plan for a General Election which could come within six months, and the need for a strategy to overcome SNP opponents who are beating them in the polls.

These problems mean the loss of Mr Dewar's leadership comes at the worst possible time for the Executive and for his party.

One senior Labour MSP told The Herald: ''What were all these special advisers doing? What support did they give him? Why was he not rested during the current parliamentary recess? They have got a lot to answer for.''

But the truth is Mr Dewar was always ungovernable, and he insisted on a host of engagements this week. Instead, Labour now finds itself locked in the beginnings of a leadership battle. Any successor will then have to pick a new Cabinet. A new First Minister has to be in place within 28 days, according to the devolution legislation.

Key contenders in the succession battle will have to decide how to pace their entry into the fray, with Enterprise Minister Henry McLeish the front-runner, and Finance Minister Jack McConnell a plausible rival. Communities Minister Wendy Alexander and Health Minister Susan Deacon will also attract support.

n THE first sign all was not well comes after the morning Scottish Executive Cabinet meeting at the First Minister's official residence, Bute House, in Charlotte Square, Edinburgh.

n Noon: Leaving Bute House to go to St Andrew's House for lunch and meeting, he slips on pavement. Injures wrist but does not bang his head.

n 12.30pm: Lunch, followed by scheduled meeting.

n 3.15pm: Mr Dewar starts to feel unwell. His aides call for Dr Colin Currie, a consultant geriatrician and special adviser to Health Minister Susan Deacon.

n 4pm: Dr Currie examines Mr Dewar and contacts consultant Colin Robertson at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary's accident and emergency department.

n 4.30pm: Mr Colin Robertson and Medic One arrive.

n 5pm: Police escort Mr Dewar to the infirmary.

n 7.30pm: Tests reveal the First Minister is seriously ill. Transferred to Western General, the specialist hospital for neurological injuries.

n 9.30pm: Mr Dewar's press spokesman announces the First Minister is critically ill and on a life-support machine.