Cabinet resignation takes shine off Brown speech

British prime minister Gordon Brown confirmed today he is losing one of his Cabinet ministers, a day after his crucial speech at the Labour conference in Manchester.

The departure of transport secretary Ruth Kelly - expected in a reshuffle next week - threatened to take some of the shine off Mr Brown's attempt to reassert his authority as Labour leader yesterday.

His speech, hailed as a make or break performance and introduced by his wife Sarah, included an announcement of free prescription drugs for cancer sufferers and help for elderly people with social care.

Mr Brown said Ms Kelly's decision to quit to spend more time with her family was "a very personal story" which he understood as a father of two himself.

Ms Kelly's decision to quit the Cabinet has sparked speculation that the Catholic MP for Bolton West did not want to have to vote with the Government in an upcoming division on the controversial Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill.

However, Brown insisted her decision was driven by her desire to spend more time with her four young children and had "nothing to do with politics".

He 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."

Mr Brown told Sky News: "She has got four children between five and 11. She felt, rightly, that the tension between having to work, being a constituency MP, being a minister, and having a family of four, that she wanted to spend that time as they grow up helping them through these challenging years.

"She told me in May that this is what she wanted to do.

"I wish her well in the future. But she has done a great job as transport secretary."

Speaking on 'BBC Breakfast' later, Mr Brown said there was no significance in the timing of the announcement.

"She wanted to wait until there was the next reshuffle in the Government," he said. "And obviously this leaked out last night."

Asked whether there were more ministerial resignations in the offing, Mr Brown responded: "That's not true at all."

Labour's annual conference draws to a close today with Mr Brown hoping his performance in yesterday's speech will be enough to silence his critics and stave off the threat of a leadership challenge.

He revealed that it was his wife Sarah who suggested that she should introduce him on to the stage at Manchester, in a move that surprised many observers who are used to her keeping out of the limelight.

"She surprised me as well," he told GMTV.

"It was definitely her decision. She's been thinking about it for some time. I think she wanted to show that we are a team. We work together, we go on visits together around the country, meeting people, sometimes very privately.

"We are a team. Why don't we show that?"