UK News 05-09-2000 Mo Mowlam To Stand Down At Next Election who: Mo Mowlam what: Announces retirement from parliament when: Yesterday snippet: "Mo Mowlam, Minister for the Cabinet Office and the most popular member of Tony Blair`s administration, announced yesterday that she will leave the Government and Parliament at the general election," reports The Telegraph`s Andrew Sparrow. "Downing Street... lavished praise on her record," says Charles Reiss, Political Editor of the Evening Standard. "However, the announcement of her departure looked like the culmination of years of sniping from colleagues and rivals, and disappointment that she did not win the Health Department post she most desired". Rumours have persisted for some time that the cabinet Peter Mandelson, Dr Mowlam`s successor as Northern Ireland Secretary, had masterminded a "briefing campaign" against her, spreading stories about his rival dating back to the Labour Party conference in 1998. Fifty year-old Dr Mowlam, MP for Redcar, spent two-and-a-half years laying the foundations for the peace process as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and won the hearts of the nation when she fought back to fitness after a brain tumour. Her plain-speaking views - particularly on drug abuse and the monarchy - have been in stark contrast to the Labour party`s reputation for "spin". But "talk of a whispering campaign... misses the point," claims Peter Riddell in The Times. The government have been "mystified and irritated by her performance" and "the charm of her earthy, and at times crude, style has worn thin. She is not generally regarded as a good minister". [... more]

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