John Prescott resigned in secret two weeks ago, forgoing a high-profile exit in the manner of the Prime Minister.

An e-mailed statement from the Labour Party, released moments after Tony Blair finished his lunchtime farewell in Sedgefield, revealed that the Deputy Prime Minister had resigned in writing a fortnight ago. Mr Prescott visited his constituents in Hull last night, but insisted that the event remained private.

The Deputy Prime Minister will not disappear entirely from public view yet. He is expected to stand in for Mr Blair at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday. When he finally steps down alongside Mr Blair on June 27, he will enter the record books as Britain’s longest-serving Deputy Prime Minister, outlasting Margaret Thatcher’s deputy, Willie Whitelaw, by 17 months.

In a letter to constituents Mr Prescott said that it had been a privilege to serve under the “the most successful Labour Prime Minister ever”.

Blair casts himself as EU president candidate

Speaking on French TV, Tony Blair sang the praises of the EU and sketched his agenda for its future, all in fluent French

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His ministerial career began in 1997 running the largest government department, encompassing the environment, transport and the regions, and he played a pivotal role smoothing relations between Mr Blair and Gordon Brown during their turbulent periods.

But it ended in embarrassment and humiliation after it emerged that he had an affair with his secretary, and his judgment was questioned after he was photographed playing croquet while Tony Blair was out of the country.

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