Labour election co-ordinator Alan Milburn disclosed today he would not be serving in Tony Blair's new cabinet.
Mr Milburn served as health secretary from 1999-2003 but quit to spend more time with his family.
He was persuaded back last year to mastermind Labour's campaign to win a third consecutive term in power.
Mr Milburn said the campaign had gone well but that he had not changed his mind about his own situation.
"When I came back in, in September, I was persuaded by Tony to come back in and thought long and hard about it," he said.
"I came back on the basis that I was going to run the campaign up to the general election . . . obviously I've thought about it a bit during the campaign. But to tell you the truth, I never changed my mind.
"But the reasons I went in the first place remain. I've got two young kids and I want to see a bit more of them growing up."
