Blair promotes anti-war minister

Tony Blair has promoted a minister who resigned from the government in protest at the Iraq war.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath quit his job at the Department of Health in 2003 and is now returning to his former department as minister of state.

He replaces Lord Warner who resigned last month as NHS reform minister.

Lord Hunt's move from the Department of Work and Pensions, where he was reappointed to a junior post, creates a vacancy there which is expected to be filled next week.

The promotion of one of the few ministers to resign over Iraq will surprise some observers as the prime minister struggles to stop his legacy being overshadowed by the war, but it could also signal his determination to heal the rifts created by the military action during his final months in office.