Dr Mo Mowlam last night confirmed her intention to quit parliament at the next election, declaring Mr Tony Blair "a good friend", her health "fine and dandy" and her decision "nothing to do with British politics", the Prime Minister or 10 Downing Street.
Denying she had been "squeezed out", Dr Mowlam insisted she had "no specific regrets" about her decision to seek a life outside parliamentary politics and vowed to work to secure the re-election of the Labour government at the next election.
Dr Mowlam, who is expected to remain in her Cabinet Office post until the election, insisted this was the post she had wanted, denied ever having wanted to become Health Secretary, and cleared Number 10 of the alleged "whispering campaign" which had dogged her since she won an unprecedented standing ovation during Mr Blair's address to the Labour Party conference in 1998.
Trailing the former Northern secretary's announcement yesterday, the Prime Minister's spokesman again dismissed as "24-carat rubbish" suggestions that anyone acting with Mr Blair's authority had ever briefed against Dr Mowlam. Mr Blair, he said, believed her decision would be "a great loss to the government and a great loss to parliament".
As speculation instantly revived about intrigue at the heart of the Blair government, Dr Mowlam insisted she had decided to make clear her plans to end rumour and speculation. Admitting she had no idea upon waking yesterday that she would have signalled the end of her cabinet career before lunchtime, she said: "I talked it over with Tony . . . we talked about it and he agreed it would be worth me saying today what I wanted to do because it was all getting silly, with all the rumours and suggestions."
Asked if Mr Blair had pressed her to stay, Dr Mowlam told Channel 4 News: "Yes, he said I should stay but he's been very supportive of what I want to do."
In her statement earlier Dr Mowlam had spelt that out: "This is a personal decision for me. It is one I have been considering for some time and have previously discussed with the Prime Minister. I have decided not to stand because I have several years of my working life left and want to do something different before I finally retire."
Dr Mowlam (50) continued: "I have been looking at a number of different options to continue to pursue my many interests, including in international affairs, conflict resolution and poverty."
Poverty is one of Dr Mowlam's current areas of responsibility. And there was anger last night in Labour ranks that a sufficiently attractive role in government had not been found for a woman consistently voted the most popular cabinet member.
Mrs Gwyneth Dunwoody MP, who said Dr Mowlam had been "wasted" in her current post, told Channel 4: "It looks as if there are people who are frightened of power for women at the top of the Labour Party."