UK's Blair to resign next July

Tony Blair will leave office on July 26, the Sun newspaper reported in its Wednesday edition, as the increasingly unpopular prime minister faced growing pressure to quit from within his own Labor Party.

The report comes a day after a top Blair ally said the prime minister would probably leave office within a year.

The Sun said Blair would step down as head of the Labor Party on May 31, less than a month after his tenth anniversary in office. He would resign as prime minister eight weeks later, after an election to choose a successor as party leader, expected to be his finance minister, Gordon Brown.

Blair, winner of a record three consecutive elections for Labor, has already said he will not stand for a fourth term.