Home Secretary to 'resign'
Jacqui Smith is to resign as Home Secretary in the wake of the expenses scandal, it was reported this afternoon.
The West Midland MP's ministerial job has been on the line after a series of embarrassments. She had to refund the taxpayer £10 for two adult films watched on cable TV by her husband, Richard Timney, also her parliamentary aide.
The Cabinet minister is also the subject of a parliamentary expenses probe for claiming for second home allowances on her Redditch family home in her constituency, while listing a London flat she shares with her sister as her main home.
There was no official confirmation on her future plans from Ms Smith.
A Number 10 spokeswoman dismissed the reports as "reshuffle speculation".
But sources said she told Gordon Brown she intended to stand down in the next Cabinet shake-up – keen to concentrate all her efforts on the battle to retain her seat where she holds a marginal 2,716 majority.
All phone lines to her parliamentary office were diverted to the Commons answering service – suggesting there was some truth in the reports. And a Home Office spokesman refused to comment.
It is believed that she has decided to quit before she was pushed – with speculation rife about Mr Brown preparing for a wide-ranging reshuffle after Thursday's local and European elections. Her reported departure is also a signal that Mr Brown is losing control over his own Government changes as his reshuffle looms.
Councillor Roger Lawrence, the leader of the Labour group in Wolverhampton, said: "I'm not surprised she's gone, I have know Jacqui for many years and on a personal level, I'm sorry for her. She did a reasonably good job, but it was the right decision for her to go, a very sensible move."
Miss Smith's expenses had proved very unpopular in her Redditch constituency – around 1,180 signatures had been raised in the last three months calling for her to quit.
