Jacqui Smith to resign

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith is to resign from the Cabinet ahead of next week’s re-shuffle.It is thought that Ms Smith, the first ever female home secretary, will be focusing her efforts on retaining her Commons seat in Redditch at the next election, as well as spending more time with her family.
It is believed that Ms Smith told Prime Minister Gordon Brown as long as two months ago that she wished to step down at the earliest possible opportunity.
Ms Smith was promoted to the post of Home Secretary when Gordon Brown became Prime Minister in 2007. She has been criticised for her attempts to extend pre-charge detention limits for suspected terrorists and for her handling of the negotiations over police officer pay deals. Her refusal to backdate police officer pay meant that officers pay increase was cut from 2.5 per cent to 1.9 per cent – below inflation at the time.
She was also recently embroiled in the misuse of MP expenses, after her husband ‘mistakenly’ claimed for two adult films and she claimed her main residence was her sister’s home – allowing her to claim £116,000 on her constituency home. Ms Smith is currently being investigated by the parliamentary commissioner over the matter.