Ruth Kelly quits Gordon Brown's cabinet to spend more time with her family
Updated on 24 September 2008
Gordon Brown suffers a blow as his transport secretary quits for family reasons. Is a cabinet reshuffle now on the cards?
The transport secretary Ruth Kelly will quit the cabinet at the next reshuffle, a decision she and Gordon Brown both insisted was taken for family rather than political reasons.
Ms Kelly who has four children under 11, insisted the timing of the news, just after Mr Brown's conference speech, was "completely unexpected" to her.
She denied reported differences with the prime minister saying Mr Brown remained "a towering figure in the Labour party".
