LONDON, July 10: British Prime Minister Tony Blair came close to resigning last month and four senior ministers from his cabinet intervened to persuade him not to do so, the British Broadcasting Corporation said on Saturday.

The BBC named the four cabinet officials as Charles Clarke, John Reid, Tessa Jowell and Patricia Hewitt, respectively in charge of education, health, culture and trade and industry.

It said the four had separately approached Blair because he was "seriously reviewing" his future as premier. The British leader has suffered a massive loss in popularity due to his decision to take Britain into the war in Iraq.

A spokesman from Blair's office reacted to the BBC report by saying that the prime minister had always said he would lead his Labour Party into the next general election, which is expected some time next year.

Last month Blair stressed that view, saying: "In the end, the British people are the boss - they're the people who make the decision."

"I am absolutely up for it," he said of the next election.

"You have always got to have the support of your party, but I believe I have that support. You have got to have the support of the people and that's decided in an election," he said.

In the event of Blair deciding not to seek to stay on as prime minister, or to lead the party in the next election, Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown is widely seen as the most likely candidate.-AFP