Former Northern Ireland secretary, Mr Peter Mandelson, yesterday emphatically ruled out a return to Labour's front bench but insisted his political career was far from over.
Just two weeks before the completion of a second inquiry into the Hinduja passport affair, which led to his second resignation from the Cabinet last January, Mr Mandelson said he would not return to the British government even if asked.
Speculation that the fallen minister could return to the heart of New Labour for a second time has been mounting since the Prime Minister, Mr Blair, asked Sir Anthony Hammond QC to look again at Mr Mandelson's role in the Hinduja affair.
But in an interview with BBC Radio Cleveland, the former minister firmly ruled out another spectacular political revival, saying: "I have heard the speculation about returning to government. I'm not going to do so. I'm not going to go back to government even if I'm asked. I'm not going to go into the front-line because that would mean going back into the firing line." Insisting he was "emphatically not quitting" politics, he added: "The New Labour torch will never go out, nor are the lights going out on my career."
Mr Mandelson's case was reopened following the discovery of a lost civil service memo which appears to confirm that he consulted officials for advice when he was asked in 1998 to make an inquiry at the Home Office about the procedures for obtaining a British passport for Mr Srichand Hinduja, an Indian businessman. It was alleged at the time that Mr Mandelson had acted informally because he hoped to win Mr Hinduja's financial support for the Millennium Dome, for which he was then responsible.
Sir Anthony's original inquiry cleared Mr Mandelson of impropriety but some MPs believe that instead of finally clearing up the case, the newly discovered memo could backfire on the former minister.
Clearly, Mr Mandelson did not agree: "My name was cleared last year, and I expect that will be reinforced in the review."