Cabinet Minister Ms Clare Short has said the British prime minister, Mr Blair, was right to move Dr Mo Mowlam from Northern Ireland last year because she had lost the confidence of unionists.
In an interview in this morning's Irish Times Ms Short also acquits Mr Blair of the charge of failing to find a suitable use for Dr Mowlam's talents, saying she was offered the post of Health Secretary and refused it at the last reshuffle.
Ms Short's comments come as Labour chiefs brace themselves for further displays of the party's affection for Dr Mowlam in Brighton this week, and as an opinion poll finds her the voters' favourite to succeed Mr Blair as Labour leader.
Dr Mowlam received the first two standing ovations of the week when she appeared at a pre-conference session yesterday and spoke of the "pain and pleasure" of her 13 years in parliamentary politics.
Dr Mowlam announced recently she will stand down from the cabinet and the Commons at the general election. However, yesterday's poll for the Sunday Express found 34 per cent of voters of all parties favouring her to succeed Mr Blair, well ahead of Chancellor Gordon Brown (23%), Mr David Blunkett (12%), Mr Ken Livingstone (11%) and Mr Peter Mandelson (4%).
In her interview Ms Short condemns the off-the-record briefings which have exposed the personality fault-lines at the heart of the Blair cabinet, and which are thought to have been a major contributor to Ms Mowlam's disillusionment with front-line politics.
"We've all experienced it and it's hateful, and it obviously hurt Mo," says Ms Short: "I don't know who it was. And of course you get jealousy in politics. And Mo was fantastically popular both because of the person she was and her courage in dealing with her illness, and because people were so happy about Northern Ireland moving forward to peace."
However, when asked why Mr Blair had been unable to find a suitable use for Dr Mowlam's formidable talents, Ms Short replies: "As I understand it she was offered Health."
And of Mr Blair's eventual decision to move Dr Mowlam from Northern Ireland - a move she had successfully resisted some months before - Ms Short says: "My view is this: Mo did have to move from Northern Ireland, not because of any fault in her, but because the unionists for whatever reason had less confidence in her, and the peace process is bigger than any of us, any individual."
Ms Short continues: "So, any responsible prime minister would have organised that, and Mo would obviously regret it. But she deserved deep respect and a serious job because she's great and she's done a fine job. Now, I wasn't there, but the offer of Health is a serious job, it's one of the top jobs of the government, and she didn't want that. And then, you know, Foreign Secretary? Well, sorry, job's occupied. So I think it then became very unfortunate, and she felt disappointed, and now she's choosing to move on in her life."
While a recent book revealed the offer of the Health job, this is the first time a member of the government has confirmed it on the record. Ms Short adds: "My view is - I really do love and care for Mo - is that any responsible prime minister, in order to protect the peace process which is more important than any of us, had to make a change. I don't want to hurt Mo at all, but that is it, and the offer of Health is a really good job."