CABINET ministers have delivered an early warning to Labour MPs against using possible poor Labour results in next week’s local elections to try to bring forward the departure of Tony Blair.

With Mr Blair sending out strong signals that he intends to say nothing more about the timing of his resignation until he is ready to go, ministers are preparing to brush aside the inevitable calls from Mr Blair’s enemies for him to leave.

Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, who wants Mr Blair to stay on while accepting that Gordon Brown will eventually succeed him, said yesterday that the May 4 poll should not be seen as a referendum on Mr Blair’s leadership.

He declared it would be “batty” to think the results would have any bearing on when Mr Blair leaves Downing Street. He spoke as the latest ICM opinion poll suggested that Labour support had fallen to a 19-year low after the battering over the cash-for-peerages row and health service redundancies.

Yesterday’s disclosures about the failure to deport more than 1,000 foreign offenders will raise new questions about the Government’s overall competence. Some Labour MPs admitted yesterday that the admission was a godsend for the British National Party.

Mr Blair has no intention of bowing out after bad results and is believed to have a series of initiatives planned for the days after the elections. It is also expected that he will finally bring forward his much- delayed reshuffle to give a fresh sense of momentum to the Government. After getting into difficulties on his trip to Australia, when he admitted that it might have been a mistake to “preannounce” his departure, Mr Blair has vowed to say nothing more.

Mr Clarke used an interview with the Evening Standard to advise MPs against trying to oust Mr Blair. “I certainly would not use the elections to send that message or even think of sending that message. Anyone who thinks that is completely batty,” he said.

He added: “The idea the election result will have any impact on those decisions is complete nonsense. People will look at the result and make their own conclusions about how well we do and what we have to do to improve our performance. But I don’t think party leadership is one of the factors.”

The Home Secretary also denied that the position was bad for Labour. He said: “It’s not looking grim from my angle. The reports I’m getting are precisely not grim.”

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