Oxford East MP 'was not going to sacked' (From The Oxford Times)

Oxford East MP 'was not going to sacked'

11:00am Thursday 9th September 2010 in

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OXFORD East MP Andrew Smith ended his own Cabinet career because he was wrongly convinced he was going to be sacked, Tony Blair has claimed.

In his new memoir, the former Prime Minister describes how Mr Smith insisted on resigning from his position as Work and Pensions Secretary in September 2004 because of press speculation suggesting he was about to be fired in a reshuffle.

But Mr Blair says he had never considered dismissing the “hard-working and effective” minister, and the newspaper stories were nonsense.

At the time, Mr Smith said he was looking forward to spending more time with his family.

In A Journey, Mr Blair writes: “(Andrew) was convinced he was for the chop. He came to see me and said he was going to resign before he was pushed.

“The reshuffle was due in the next days, and I had an outline.

“I was not going to sack him. In fact, I had never thought of it, and told him so, but so wound up was he that he obviously didn’t believe it and said, no, he really preferred to go rather than suffer the indignity of being sacked.”

He never returned to Cabinet.

At the time, Mr Smith said he wanted to devote more time time to his consituency and family.

But Mr Blair said his departure was “the most bizarre example” of ministers wrongly assuming that Downing Street was briefing newspapers against them.

He says No.10 never briefed against Mr Smith, who was seen as a key ally of Gordon Brown, and even suggests the Chancellor’s own people may have told journalists he was to be sacked.

Mr Smith served as an employment minister from 1997-99, before being appointed Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and then Work and Pensions Secretary from 2002-04.

In A Journey, Mr Blair describes the Oxford MP as “a capable minister, nice guy, never going to be Chancellor but hard-working and effective”.

Yesterday, Mr Smith, who was re-elected at the last election, said: “I have been told about his description of my resignation. It just regurgitates speculation.

“When I went to see him to resign, I told him it was because I wanted more time with my family and in the constituency. I have never regretted that choice for a moment, and judging by my result at the General Election, neither have my constituents.”

lsloan@oxfordmail. co.uk