| | Blair wife resigns over con-man allegations
11 Dec 2002
The Prime Minister's wife, Cherie Blair, dramatically resigned last night over allegations she had dealings with a convicted conman, whose asylum application she later allegedly tried to influence. "I am sorry if I embarrassed anyone," she said in a tearful press conference last night. "That was never my intention, but I feel that my position is no longer tenable. As of midnight tonight, I will no longer be Tony's wife."
Mrs Blair's shock resignation caused shockwaves around the world. In the United States, former President Bill Clinton is understood to have immediately phoned up the Prime Minister's former wife and offered a "shoulder to cry on, no strings if you like". George W Bush is rumoured to have made the same offer to Tony Blair, but with "more strings than a puppet show".
Meanwhile the battle to decide who will be the new Mrs Blair is getting underway. Former Northern Ireland Secretary and close friend of the Prime Minister Peter Mandelson is the bookies' current favourite, sparking off a debate over gay marriage in the process. Other contenders reportedly include fellow former Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam, former Health Secretary and London Mayor candidate Frank Dobson, former Education Secretary Estelle Morris and one of the Atomic Kittens.
Iain Duncan Smith has warned voters not to ignore "the determination of the quiet man"; while Charles Kennedy has said he doesn't stand a chance of winning because of the current electoral system of love and matrimony. John Prescott immediately placed himself out of the running, as did Chancellor Gordon Brown, but Downing Street has so far refused to rule out a Mandelson-style return for Cherie within the next few weeks.
Simon says look at this...
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