London, May 13 : The darkest day of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's political life was when one of his closest confidants, David Kelly, committed suicide over Iraq War-related evidence that put him in poor light, says Cherie Blair.

She described the moment her husband received the news of the death as quite awful.

"As I watched Tony hand back the phone, I saw him slump into his seat. From sitting upright, he just crashed. David Kelly was dead, he said [...] It was awful," she wrote in her memoirs, parts of which are being serialised in The Times.

"I have never seen Tony so distraught and I felt helpless to do anything.

"Eventually he spoke to Alastair - God knows what time it was for either of them - who had just arrived back in London. Alastair said he couldn't handle any more and wanted out," The Telegraph quoted Cherie, as saying.

She writes in her autobiography that: "In the 25 years I had known Tony, I had never seen him so badly affected by anything."

The couple were posing for photographers among the Anthony Gormley exhibit Asian Field in the Chinese capital Beijing when the news of Kelly's suicide was relayed to them. (ANI)