This month doctors' and nurses' leaders welcomed plans for a government package to attract more staff to the health service.

Mr Milburn said: "Doctors and nurses do a great job for the NHS and we need more of them."

Mr Milburn has had a rapid rise in the ministerial ranks since Labour came to power in 1997.

The ambitious and energetic Darlington MP finally made the cabinet in December 1998 when he became chief secretary to the treasury after Peter Mandelson's resignation.

He earned that promotion after impressing the prime minister with his performance as a health minister.

He has held briefs in the health department and the treasury.

Mr Milburn was educated at the universities of Lancaster and Newscastle upon Tyne.

He worked as a business development officer for North Tyneside Council before becoming MP for Darlington in 1992.

Raised by a single mother, Mr Milburn has a strong belief in the notion of "community" and he ran the campaign to save Sunderland's shipyards.