IT is now certain that Tony Blair will announce next week - probably Thursday lunchtime after Cabinet - that he is stepping down as Prime Minister.

On Friday, he will visit his Sedgefield constituency to inform local people of his intentions as their Member of Parliament.

We believe that he should tell them he intends to remain as their representative for the length of the Parliament. In fact, we believe he owes it to them to do so.

The people of Sedgefield first elected Mr Blair in 1983 and helped to shape his New Labour values - a contribution that he has regularly, and gratefully, acknowledged.

Having their MP transformed into Prime Minister has been a double-edged sword. It has been an historic privilege that has put this rural corner of County Durham on the international map. It has certainly put the public services on their mettle - schools, hospitals and councils could not fail in Mr Blair's backyard because their failure would have been used to embarrass the Prime Minister.

But Mr Blair's prime ministerial duties have kept him away from the constituency for long periods. This has not been his fault - it is a quirk in our Parliamentary system. He cannot have his mind on the vexed issue of local bin collection days when he is trying to bring peace to Ireland and resolve the Middle East crisis.

When Mr Blair retires as MP, Sedgefield will revert to being a political backwater. It will elect an MP who, for the first period of their career at least, will sit on the backbenches.

Even on the backbenches, Mr Blair will still have great clout. Just by virtue of being Tony Blair, he will be able to drive through projects and ideas that no bog standard backbencher could, to the benefit of his constituents and the wider region.

This would be a great way of repaying the people who first put their faith in him nearly 25 years ago and who gave him the platform to become Prime Minister.