sentences:  On 10 May Blair announced to the Sedgefield Labour Party that he would stand down as Prime Minister on 27 June 2007, and that he would be requesting Labour's NEC to seek a new party leader.Shortly afterwards, John Prescott announced that he would stand down as Deputy Prime Minister on the same day and that he had written to the NEC to announce his resignation as party Deputy Leader.Labour's NEC met on 13 May to finalise a timetable for the handover, confirming that Blair would remain leader until a new leader was elected, and giving any potential candidates three active Parliament days in which to submit their papers.