How Blair was undermined on a day of drama in Westminster

The might of Tony Blair's once-feared spin machine was outmanoeuvred by a junior minister working from the back of his car during a family holiday in Scotland.

As Downing Street dithered over what to do about the letter of insurrection signed by Tom Watson and 14 other previously loyal MPs, the ebullient junior Defence minister cut the ground from underneath his party leader by mobile telephone.

Tom Kelly, the Prime Minister's official spokesman, was busy insisting that Mr Watson would be hauled in for a dressing-down by the Prime Minister, when news of his dramatic resignation broke at Westminster.

The vibration of a BlackBerry mobile telephone bringing news of Mr Watson's devastating resignation letter signalled the start of a political earthquake that would rock the Premier's authority to its foundations.

It wrecked Downing Street's hopes that the crisis engulfing the Prime Minister could be averted by promises from senior allies that he would be gone within a year and The Sun newspaper's confident report that he had pencilled in 31 May for the announcement of his departure.

But, by lunchtime yesterday, seven loyal junior members of the Government had resigned, plunging the Labour Party into what David Cameron described as "meltdown" and Patricia Hewitt admitted was "madness".

By the time reporters had walked back to their offices from the daily 11am lobby briefing, the Press Association wires had already been given Mr Watson's withering statement. He told Mr Blair: "I have to say that I no longer believe that your remaining in office is in the interest of either the party or the country."

Less than three-quarters of an hour later, the wrong-footed Prime Minister fired off a reply that was dripping with fury. He branded Mr Watson "disloyal, discourteous and wrong" and insisted he had planned to sack him anyway.

But, within half an hour, the dam broke as one after another, half a dozen parliamentary ministerial aides quit their posts. Meanwhile, a succession of MPs also toured the radio and television studios urging Mr Blair to name the day.

Downing Street aides were quick to point to the trade union background of some rebels. Five of the seven who resigned are sponsored by the giant Amicus general union, which also sponsors the co-ordinators of Tuesday's rebel letter to Mr Blair, Chris Bryant and Sion Simon. Mr Watson is a former political officer of the AEEU union, which later became part of Amicus.

One Downing Street source said: "They do what Tom says because some of them feel they owe their seats to them."

Blairite loyalists also detected links between some dissidents and Chancellor Gordon Brown, including Mr Watson's former job as a Treasury whip and Mark Tami's job as aide to Dawn Primarolo, the Paymaster General. Mr Brown himself, however, was nowhere to be seen. He is not due to give the first interview after the birth of his third child until Sunday.

With Parliament in recess and the Westminster bars and corridors beloved of plotters closed for renovation, the wave of resignations was co-ordinated in a flurry of mobile telephone calls criss-crossing the country as Mr Blair became the first prime minister to be targeted by such a hi-tech coup.

First, Khalid Mahmood quit as a parliamentary private secretary to the police minister, Tony McNulty. Then, four of the new rebels - Wayne David, Ian Lucas, Mr Tami and David Wright - even put their names to a joint resignation letter. They praised the Prime Minister, but warned: "We believe, however, that you have not ended the uncertainty over when you intend to leave office, which is damaging the Government and the party."

The final blow to Mr Blair came at 2.35pm when Chris Mole quit as parliamentary aide to the communities minister, Phil Woolas. He said: "While I welcome the indication that the PM will have left office by July 2007, I want to see a more concrete indication that a transition to a new leader is being actively planned."

Downing Street belatedly fielded Patricia Hewitt, the Secretary of State for Health, to take to the air waves and appeal for calm. She told her colleagues that the Labour Party was in "real danger" of forgetting the lessons it learnt during the 1980s.

There was a sense of siege in Downing Street last night as aides agonised over how Mr Blair could negotiate his way out of the worst crisis to hit his leadership. It was pumping out the desperate warning that further insurrection in the Labour ranks could prompt a devastating punishment at the polls.

Only a year ago Mr Watson was in full agreement as he lambasted the Conservatives over their leadership agonies. He wrote on his internet blog: "They're having an internal election and half killing each other... Will they ever learn?"

Three and a half hours that undermined the PM

07:30 Tony Blair and Gordon Brown hold crisis talks.

08.10 John Hutton, Work and Pensions Secretary, on Radio 4's Today programme backs Mr Blair remaining until next summer

11.00 Mr Blair's spokesman tells reporters he plans to talk to junior Defence minister Tom Watson "later today" after he was found to have signed a letter calling on the Prime Minister to quit.

11.12 Mr Watson resigns, issuing his statement through the Press Association.

11.58 Mr Blair hits back, saying that he had been intending to fire Mr Watson anyway, branding him "disloyal, discourteous and wrong".

12.35 Khalid Mahmood announces his resignation as parliamentary private secretary to the Home Office minister Tony McNulty.

12.41 No 10 plugs the gap left by Mr Watson, shifting Derek Twigg from the Department of Transport to veterans minister and promoting Tom Harris to Transport minister.

13.04 The Tory leader David Cameron says the Government is "in meltdown".

13.25 Mr Blair writes to Mr Watson warning of the dangers to Labour of a divisive battle over the leadership.

14.01 Four more parliamentary private secretaries - Wayne David, Ian Lucas, Mark Tami and David Wright - quit their jobs in protest at Mr Blair staying on.

14.35 Another PPS, Chris Mole, adds his name to the list of those resigning.

21.45 A seventh PPS, Ian Wright, resigns from his post

Rebels forcing the pace

* Wayne David, 49, the Caerphilly MP and parliamentary secretary to Adam Ingram, the armed forces minister, was a teacher before serving in the European Parliament until 1999.

Prior to his election in 2001, he was notorious for losing the Labour seat for Rhondda, previously regarded as one of the safest in the country, in the Welsh Assembly elections of 1999. He was also regarded by the Labour hierarchy as one of its strongest performers in Wales.

* Ian Lucas, 45, the Wrexham MP, was the parliamentary aide to Bill Rammell, the Education minister.

An Oxford-educated solicitor with a strong interest in criminal law reform, he had established himself as a strong Commons performer.

He is also an advocate of greater rights for the disabled, as well as environmental issues.

* Khalid Mahmood, 45, MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, refused to join three prominent Muslim colleagues in signing an open letter in July suggesting that Tony Blair's foreign policy was heightening the threat of terror.

Mr Mahmood was a community worker and MBA student before he became an MP in June 2001 and parliamentary secretary to Home Office minister Tony McNulty.

A mechanical engineer, he was seen as on the right of the party and was a vociferous opponent of Militant in the 1980s.

* Chris Mole, 48, the Ipswich MP, won his seat in a by-election five years ago. The former British Telecom research manager had a strong background in local government. He was described as a "model Blairite" during his eight years as the leader of Suffolk County Council.

After serving on several Commons select committees, Mr Mole was appointed parliamentary secretary to Phil Woolas, the Local Government minister. He may now be eyeing his Commons majority, which shrank to 5,332 at the last election, with anxiety.

* Sion Simon, 37, MP for Birmingham Erdington. One of the ringleaders who co-ordinated the letter by 17 normally loyal MPs calling on Mr Blair to step down.

Well known as a columnist for The Daily Telegraph and The Spectator before he became an MP for a safe seat. On the Labour benches he developed a reputation as ultra-loyal Blairite. He was identified as one of the most loyal of the 2001 intake, voting with the leadership on all whipped votes. Philip Cowley's book on Labour dissent, The Rebels, quotes him as objecting to the term "rebel" MP, preferring "deserters".

* Mark Tami, 43, was the parliamentary secretary to Dawn Primarolo, the Treasury minister, for the past year. A former official with the Amicus union, he was elected MP for Alyn and Deeside, north Wales, in 2001.

Previously known as being scrupulously loyal to the Government, he was rewarded with promotion to the post of Ms Primarolo's aide. With his new-found free time he may be able to pursue his leisure interests of following Norwich City FC, cricket, fishing and antiques.

* Tom Watson's greatest claim to fame was, until yesterday, for being Britain's first blogging MP.

The 39-year-old MP for West Bromwich East joined the party as a teenager and went on to chair the National Organisation of Labour Students from 1992 to 1993. He became a political officer for the AEEU union and arrived in Parliament in 2001.

Extrovert and popular in Westminster, he is known for his strong support for Gordon Brown.

* David Wright, 39, inherited his home town of Telford when its previous MP, Bruce Grocott, a former Blair aide, was elevated to the Lords.

After four years of loyal service to the Labour Party, Mr Wright was appointed parliamentary secretary to John Hutton, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in May. A former local government officer who has worked in urban regeneration and is also a Boys' Brigade instructor, his main political interest is housing.