Papers ponder Blair's next move

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What next for Tony Blair after the English, Scottish and Welsh elections?

The Sun says he is set to stand down as an MP before the next general election and trigger an autumn by-election in his Sedgefield constituency.

The Daily Star says he will tell his constituency party next week that he thinks it is time to go.

By leaving soon, the Independent says, he would avoid tension with Gordon Brown. It would help the PM to forge a career on the world stage, it adds.

Lecture circuit

The Daily Mail says Mr Blair is ready to walk away from UK politics this summer and pocket Â£10m in his first year out of office.

This will be made on the US lecture circuit and by the sale of his memoirs and lucrative directorships, it says.

The Guardian says his departure will leave Gordon Brown with a tough task.

He will need all his political acumen to prevent the coming party inquest turning into a bitter dispute that could alienate voters further, it adds.

Executive role

The Daily Telegraph reports that, when Mr Blair leaves, he is to become a roving ambassador in Africa and the Middle East.

He will devote himself full time to the new Foundation for Africa and act as a Middle East envoy for the US, it says.

The Financial Times, meanwhile, says he is seeking an executive role.

It says he has not ruled out the possibility of representing his former fellow heads of government as president of the European Union.

Opting out

The Independent spools back 10 years to Mr Blair's famous "education, education, education" pledge.

It reveals that record numbers of children are now being privately educated and blames the PM's policies.

The theme is echoed by the Times. One in four sixth form students now go private, it reports, despite huge increases in public spending.

It says parents have passed judgement on the government's schools policy by opting out in record numbers.