Brown's future in doubt as another Cabinet member quits

British Communities Secretary Hazel Blears is to resign from the UK government Cabinet, she announced in a statement today on the eve of crunch European and local elections.

Her departure comes hot on the heels of the resignation of British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, who revealed yesterday that she will quit in the coming reshuffle, expected within the next few days.

Ms Blears has come under pressure after it was revealed that she did not pay capital gains tax when selling a property on which she had claimed the parliamentary second homes allowance. She later repaid £13,000 (€15,142) to HM Revenue and Customs.

In a statement released today, Ms Blears urged voters to back Labour tomorrow and said she wanted to “return to the grassroots (where I began), to political activism, to the cut and thrust of political debate”.