A second assault upon Brown's premiership was launched in September 2008 when Siobhain McDonaghan MP who had never voted against the governmentspoke of the need for discussion over Brown's position. McDonagh, a junior government whip, was sacked from her role on 12 September. McDonagh did not state that she wanted Brown deposed, but she implored the Labour Party to hold a leadership election. McDonagh spoke of a "huge number" of Labour MPs who wanted a leadership election. In the following days, several Labour MPsincluding Field, Joan Ryan (who applied, as McDonagh had, for leadership nomination papers, and became the second rebel to be fired from her job), Jim Dowd, Greg Pope, and others who had previously held positions in governmentsaid they wanted a contest. In an unrelated incident, 12 backbenchers signed a letter criticising Brown that was published in "Progress" magazine. One of these MPs, Eric Joyce, said that Brown's future hinged on his performance at the upcoming Labour Party conference.