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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2009
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Blair Ally to Step Down

Home secretary's surprise announcement frees new PM to overhaul cabinet

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(Newser) – British Home Secretary John Reid will stand down, he announced yesterday, giving PM apparent Gordon Brown space to rejigger the cabinet when he succeeds Tony Blair. Tensions have run high between the old and new Labour leaders' supporters, but Reid stressed that his surprise departure was personal; the Guardian reports that wider decamping by Blair allies is unlikely.

Brown had been willing to keep Reid in the cabinet, but not necessarily as home secretary. Names of possible successors, including ex-foreign secretary Jack Straw, are already in play as Brown attempts to balance distaste for Blair and thirst for new faces with the critical need for experience. "Fresh faces are fresh only for a week," one minister said.

Britain's Home Secretary John Reid, right, and US Secretary of State for Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, left, arrive at a press conference at the Homde Office in London, Friday April 6, 2007. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Britain's Home Secretary John Reid, right, and US Secretary of State for Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, left, arrive at a press conference at the Homde Office in London, Friday April 6, 2007. (AP...   (Associated Press)
Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown   (Associated Press)
British Home Secretary John Reid talks to police officer Sgt. Steve Allen, unseen, during his visit to the Willard Estate in Clapham, south London, Tuesday, March 27, 2007. The Prime Minister Tony Blair will late Tuesday give a speech on security, crime and justice. (AP Photo/Sang Tan/ Pool)
British Home Secretary John Reid talks to police officer Sgt. Steve Allen, unseen, during his visit to the Willard Estate in Clapham, south London, Tuesday, March 27, 2007. The Prime Minister Tony Blair...   (Associated Press)
US Secretary of State for Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, left, and Britain's Home Secretary John Reid, right, at a press conference at the Home Office in London, Friday April 6, 2007. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
US Secretary of State for Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, left, and Britain's Home Secretary John Reid, right, at a press conference at the Home Office in London, Friday April 6, 2007. (AP Photo/Kirsty...   (Associated Press)
US Secretary of State for Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, left, and Britain's Home Secretary John Reid, right, at a press conference at the Home Office in London, Friday April 6, 2007. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
US Secretary of State for Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, left, and Britain's Home Secretary John Reid, right, at a press conference at the Home Office in London, Friday April 6, 2007. (AP Photo/Kirsty...   (Associated Press)
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