Ruth Kelly plans to step down as MP

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Ms Kelly said it had been an "honour and a privilege" to serve the constituency since she was elected in 1997.

The mother of four had already announced her intention to quit the Cabinet to spend time with her family.

News of Ms Kelly's resignation from the Cabinet leaked out in the early hours of the morning during Labour's annual conference in Manchester last month.

It came at a difficult time for Mr Brown, with rumours about a possible leadership challenge still rife.

The Prime Minister said Ms Kelly had tendered her resignation because she wanted to spend more time with her family, but the circumstances surrounding the leak led it to be mired in confusion.

Ms Kelly, 40, described the events as "frustrating" in a newspaper interview, adding: "I have some doubts about the way it was handled. But it is better to have it all settled now."

She also heaped praise on Foreign Secretary David Miliband, doing little to kill off suggestions that she had resigned due to tensions with the Prime Minister.

It had previously been suggested Ms Kelly, a devout Catholic, could leave the Cabinet over her objections to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill.

Ms Kelly was elected in the landslide of 1997 which brought Labour to power.