Blair will not announce departure before 10 May

Tony Blair has told Cabinet ministers he will delay announcing he is quitting until 10 May, in spite of Labour facing a meltdown in support at local elections next Thursday.

Downing Street moved yesterday to quash speculation that he would announce he is quitting next Tuesday - the tenth anniversary of Labour's election to power - in a bid to try to rescue the party's fortunes at the last minute before the polls. "That report is wrong," said Mr Blair's official spokesman.

During a visit to Poland, Mr Blair said: "I never discuss these issues at all, but I wouldn't hold your breath for that story."

The Prime Minister, who has the lowest opinion poll rating as a Labour leader since Michael Foot in 1983, has told allies that he is taking the "hits" with him after the local elections, to protect Gordon Brown from more damage. But Thursday's predicted losses threaten to provoke backbiting from Mr Brown's friends who privately accuse Mr Blair of clinging on to power too long. "If we could have got him out last September, we would have had a better chance," said one Brown supporter.

Labour are likely to lose control of the Scottish Parliament and possibly the Welsh Assembly, whileTory gains are expected in town halls across England. The Tories privately admit they are failing to make inroads into Labour's northern heartlands, however, raising questions about Tory leader David Cameron's ability to win the next general election outright.

Some of Mr Blair's closest friends fear the local elections will show Labour's decline is now so great it will lose the next general election under Mr Brown. They were keen to avoid being blamed for an electoral defeat with a damaging challenge to Mr Brown by David Miliband, and will swing behind Mr Brown after Thursday. Mr Blair will endorse the Chancellor when he announces to the Cabinet he is standing down.

He will remain Prime Minister for seven weeks, enabling him to see through the June EU and G8 summits, which will have climate change on the agenda, before he finally resigns. His remaining weeks in office are seen as a "farewell tour" but the Brown camp are planning to hit the ground running after Thursday's set-back with priorities for the run-up to the general election, including the forthcoming energy white paper.

The chance of a left-wing challenge to stop a "coronation" of Mr Brown without a contest increased yesterday after a deal was reached between the two candidates from the left - former environment minister Michael Meacher and Campaign group chairman, John McDonnell.

They privately agreed this week that only one of them would stand. However, they are still squabbling over which one has the best chance to get the required 44 nominations by MPs to stand against Mr Brown.

Mr McDonnell told Mr Meacher he does not believe he has more than a handful of supporters and should back down, switching his support to Mr McDonnell. But Mr Meacher insists he has 24 signed nominations, making him the main challenger, and that few of his supporters would switch to Mr McDonnell.

Their disagreement will not be resolved until shortly before nominations open, probably on Monday 14 May, and they only have three days to make an effective challenge with a seven-week contest. Mr Brown is planning to go on a national tour, even if he is not challenged, while the contest for the deputy leadership is fought out on the hustings.

Mr Meacher accused the Brown camp of trying to block a challenge by "spinning" canvas figures to show he could not get the required nominations to stand. In a GMTV interview to be broadcast tomorrow, he said: "They're trying to block a contest at all, which I think is very much against the interest of the electorate of the Labour Party and Gordon Brown himself.

Mr McDonnell said: "For the last three months we have been trying to get Michael Meacher to sit down and say that whoever gets the highest number of MPs goes forward. We sat him down and he agreed to that. But we have been here before and we hope we adhere to the deal."

Meanwhile, Sir Menzies Campbell, leader of the Liberal Democrats launched a stinging attack on Gordon Brown for falling rates in social mobility, rising poverty and increasing inequality, all of which have taken place under his watch as Chancellor. Sir Menzies was visiting the Dunfermline and West Fife constituency, which is in the Chancellor's own "backyard", and which was won by the Lib- Dems in a by-election in February 2006. "The Blair-Brown government has wasted its opportunities," said Sir Menzies.

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