On another tough day for the PM, Marc Waddington and Rob Merrick report on events in Liverpool and at Whitehall

She added: “The atmosphere became so bad, very many MPs and ministers will say privately what I have been saying publicly.

“I think it is important the party takes the opportunity to put right what has been going wrong with our message, even if that means we bring a general election sooner.

“We should trust the public to elect a new leader with a new message.”

Mrs Kennedy said when she spoke to Mr Brown yesterday morning, the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, and business secretary, Lord Mandelson, had already sought her loyalty to the PM.

She said: “It made me pause for thought. But when I spoke to the Prime Minister, I was confident I was making the right decision.

“Tony Blair was very unpopular on the doorstep during canvassing and a time came when he recognised he would have to go.

“I can see a new PM saying: ‘Right, I have been chosen by the party to lead it into the next general election and I need a mandate from the people to go forward’.

“If we get a new leader, we at least have a fighting chance, and that is all I ask.”

In contrast, two other Merseyside MPs – twins Maria and Angela Eagle – won promotion yesterday as Mr Brown completed his reshuffle.

The Garston and Wallasey MPs were appointed ministers of state, moving up one rung from their previous posts as junior ministers.

Angela Eagle will return to the Department for Work and Pensions to handle the important pensions brief.

Maria Eagle moved up the ladder within the justice ministry, taking on responsibility for prisons and probation.

She will also oversee attempts to cut the numbers of women jailed for minor offences.

Yesterday, Angela Eagle turned her fire on Mrs Kennedy for her attack on Mr Brown.

She said: “I am sorry she has gone, but I think her comments are inopportune and ridiculous.”