Home Secretary to 'resign'

The West Midland MP's ministerial job has been on the line after a series of embarrassments. She had to refund the taxpayer £10 for two adult films watched on cable TV by her husband, Richard Timney, also her parliamentary aide.

The Cabinet minister is also the subject of a parliamentary expenses probe for claiming for second home allowances on her Redditch family home in her constituency, while listing a London flat she shares with her sister as her main home.

There was no official confirmation on her future plans from Ms Smith.

A Number 10 spokeswoman dismissed the reports as "reshuffle speculation".

But sources said she told Gordon Brown she intended to stand down in the next Cabinet shake-up – keen to concentrate all her efforts on the battle to retain her seat where she holds a marginal 2,716 majority.

All phone lines to her parliamentary office were diverted to the Commons answering service – suggesting there was some truth in the reports. And a Home Office spokesman refused to comment.

It is believed that she has decided to quit before she was pushed – with speculation rife about Mr Brown preparing for a wide-ranging reshuffle after Thursday's local and European elections. Her reported departure is also a signal that Mr Brown is losing control over his own Government changes as his reshuffle looms.

Councillor Roger Lawrence, the leader of the Labour group in Wolverhampton, said: "I'm not surprised she's gone, I have know Jacqui for many years and on a personal level, I'm sorry for her. She did a reasonably good job, but it was the right decision for her to go, a very sensible move."

Miss Smith's expenses had proved very unpopular in her Redditch constituency – around 1,180 signatures had been raised in the last three months calling for her to quit.