BOLTON MP Ruth Kelly has told how she is starting to adapt to life without the trappings of ministerial power.

But far from missing the chauffeur-driven car, office full of staff and key decision-making, Ms Kelly, right, says she finds her new-found freedom “liberating”.

In her first interview since stepping down as Transport Minister and announcing her decision to give up her Bolton West seat at the next General Election, Ms Kelly said she had no regrets about her decision to leave frontline politics in order to spend more time with her family.

She told The Times that she enjoyed having to use her Oyster card to travel around London instead of having a government car.