Britain's Irish-born transport secretary Ruth Kelly confirmed today she is to quit Gordon Brown’s Cabinet to spend more time with her young family.
The surprise departure of a close ally threatens to take the shine off Mr Brown’s well-received speech to Labour’s conference in Manchester yesterday, which the Prime Minister is hoping will cement his position as leader and revive the party’s performance in the polls.
Ms Kelly, who was born in Limavady, Co Derry, will leave the British government at the next reshuffle, which is widely expected to take place at the end of next week, though Mr Brown refused this morning to be drawn on its timing.
Mr Brown said he respected Ms Kelly’s decision, which he insisted was “nothing to do with politics”.
Announcing her decision in Manchester, Ms Kelly said: “This is purely a decision that has been taken for family reasons.”
She said she would continue to support Labour in the future and said she could not think of anyone better than Gordon Brown — whom she described as “a towering figure in the Labour Party” — to lead Britain through the current economic turmoil.
Ms Kelly’s decision sparked speculation that the Catholic MP for Bolton West did not want to have to vote with the government in a forthcoming division on the controversial Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill.
But Mr Brown insisted her decision was driven by her desire to spend more time with her four young children. He revealed that she told him of her plan to quit in May.
Mr Brown told GMTV: “She has been an MP for 11 years. All the time that her children were growing up, she was carrying out her job as minister and juggling with work and family life.
“It is a very personal story and I do understand as a father myself that there are difficult decisions we have to take.”
Asked about speculation that there were more ministerial resignations in the offing, Mr Brown responded: “That’s not true at all.”
PA