Blair urged to confirm exit date

Tony Blair

LONDON - Tony Blair will end his premiership on July 26 next year, British newspapers reported on Wednesday, but must confirm this date publicly if he is to stem a revolt by frustrated members of his ruling Labour party.

Newspapers splashed mid-2007 departure dates across their front pages, saying Blair had caved in to increasing pressure from Labour parliamentarians who had demanded a clear timetable.

The Sun tabloid said Blair would step down as Labour leader on May 31 - less than a month after his tenth anniversary in office - and would resign as prime minister eight weeks later after an election to choose a new party leader, expected to be his finance minister, Gordon Brown.

The Daily Telegraph hailed the start of "the long goodbye".

Blair's Downing Street office described the reports as "speculation", but did not deny them.

Blair, winner of a record three consecutive elections for Labour, has already said he will not stand for a fourth term.

His popularity has plunged after a series of government scandals over sleaze and mismanagement, as well as controversy over the Iraq war. Opinion polls put Labour well behind the opposition Conservatives, who have been revived by their new, youthful, pro-environment leader, David Cameron.

Blair has said he would leave "ample" time for a transition to his successor, but has angered many in his party by refusing to name a departure date.

Pressure piled on him on Tuesday after a number of once-loyal Labour members of parliament signed a letter calling on him to step down.

Media reports said the letter's signatories believe as many as 100 more Labour parliamentarians could join forces with them at Labour's annual conference at the end of September and demand Blair publicly confirm his departure date.

The left-leaning Guardian newspaper urged Blair to make his departure date official.

"Tony Blair urgently needs to reassure both the Labour party and the country that he is not living in a fantasy world," it wrote in an editorial. "Mr Blair cannot long continue as prime minister without saying something much more explicit and much more politically realistic and modest about his plans."

Blair, 53, won his first term on May 1, 1997. A decade in power would leave him more than a year short of Margaret Thatcher's record as the longest-serving prime minister in more than a century.

While Brown is widely expected to take over as his successor, party officials insist there must be a proper election and commentators say other potential contenders include Home Secretary John Reid and Education Secretary Alan Johnson.

John Burton, Blair's constituency agent and one of his longest-standing political friends, told BBC radio on Wednesday an open leadership contest was vital for Labour's future.

- REUTERS