Blair has faced constant pressure about when he will step down after he pledged before winning a third successive general election last year that he would not seek a fourth term.

With his popularity plunging, calls have grown within the Labour Party for Blair to set a date for handing over power to his expected successor, finance minister Gordon Brown.

However the Times said Blair declined to name a departure date in an interview with the newspaper published on Friday and ruled out saying more on the subject either before or during the Labour Party annual conference that opens on September 24.

"I have done what no other prime minister has done before me. I've said I'm not going to go on and on and on, and said I'll leave ample time for my successor. Now at some point I think people have to accept that as a reasonable proposition and let me get on with the job," Blair said.

"I think if it is speculation that people are worried about, there is a simple answer -- stop speculating," said Blair, who has just returned from a Caribbean holiday.

Labour parliamentarian and former minister Andrew Smith said there was widespread concern among Labour lawmakers, voters and the cabinet that the speculation was damaging the party's chances of winning a record fourth consecutive election.

"I believe the public as well as the party will be looking for a much clearer sense of direction and timing because the leadership issue does have to be sorted out," he told the BBC.