Kelly resignation a setback as Brown rallies

GORDON Brown’s effort to stamp his authority on the British Labour party suffered a setback with the loss of a cabinet ally yesterday, after it was revealed that Ruth Kelly is resigning as transport secretary to spend time with her young family.

The surprise announcement threatened to take some of the shine off the British prime minister’s well-received speech to Labour’s conference in Manchester and pre-empted a long-awaited cabinet reshuffle, which is now expected to take place at the end of next week.

But Brown said he understood Kelly’s decision to quit in the upcoming reshuffle, which he insisted was “nothing to do with politics”.