London, Apr. 13 : British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's close aide, Damian McBride, plotted to cripple Tory election hopes with a vile campaign of unfounded and obscene rumours.
McBride, Brown's strategy chief, quit after e-mails detailing his sinister smear plan were leaked.
A furious Conservative party leader, David Cameron, however, demanded a personal apology from Brown, saying that he was championing corruption and sleaze in Downing Street.