Stephen Byers has announced that he will quit Parliament at the next general election.

Mr Byers is one of the most prominent Blairites on Labour’s backbenches and has been a critic of Gordon Brown’s performance as Prime Minister, openly discussing the prospect of challenges to his leadership.

He said he was standing down as MP for North Tyneside “in order to pursue other interests and look to fresh challenges”, but insisted that he would continue to support Labour in the months and years to come.

He was forced to resigned from the Government in 2002 when it was revealed that his adviser Jo Moore suggested that the September 11 terror attacks made it “a good day to bury bad news”.

On the backbenches, he joined with a small group of high profile Blairite ex-ministers, including Alan Milburn and Charles Clarke, to push for the Government to stick to New Labour policies.

Earlier this year, Mr Byers was once again disgraced when the Daily Telegraph revealed that he had claimed £125,000 in second home expenses over five years for a flat wholly owned by his partner.

More to Follow.