‘Don’t drift to the Left’, Ruth Kelly warns Labour in first interview

If Gordon Brown is forced out of office by Labour malcontents, Ruth Kelly will be the chief cheerleader for David Miliband as his replacement. That much is clear from a defiant interview given by the Transport Secretary (she's still in the job until the Cabinet reshuffle expected late next week) to the London Evening Standard, published today.

In her first official interview since her resignation was confirmed in the small hours of Wednesday morning, Kelly lauds Miliband as "one of the great talents of the Cabinet - a star of the future, a real asset and a good friend". Asked whether there will be a leadership contest before the next election, she replies: "It's impossible to say what is going to happen."

Her comments will cause further pain to Gordon Brown and his lieutenants who were lapping up the generally favourable reaction to his Labour party conference address on Tuesday until a leak of Kelly's resignation plans took the gloss off the occasion.

In the Standard, Kelly nails her flag to the Blair/Miliband mast by warning against a "drift to the Left" and spelling out the risk of the Labour government vacating the centre ground. Asked whether there was a split among ministers over how to respond to the financial crisis, she admits there were "all sorts of views" in the Cabinet. She also argues against "a knee-jerk reaction" against City bonuses (perhaps a clue as to the career intentions of this former economist).

On the issue of the contentious Embryology Bill, Kelly, a devout Roman Catholic, said: "I think it is a conscience issue and there should have been a free vote." She added: "It's difficult to be a Christian in politics these days."

Despite all the nods and winks, Kelly sticks to the official line that she wished to spend more time with her family. Asked whether there was a political aspect to her decision to quit, she said: "Yes, there was a balance as there often is in life. But my prime concern was my family and a desire to see more of my children."

Meanwhile, the turmoil in Labour ranks - and on the world's money markets - has left David Cameron with a dilemma over how to respond at the Conservative Party conference, which begins in Birmingham on Sunday. He is desperate to warn his troops against complacency and is agonising over how much detail of an alternative approach to the financial crisis he needs to produce.

THE MOLE: KELLY RESIGNATION

FIRST POSTED SEPTEMBER 26, 2008