Peter Mandelson begun his fightback with a weekend of constituency events in his Hartlepool seat.

The former Northern Ireland secretary arrived in his constituency to face renewed controversy over claims that his "friends" were briefing newspapers on his behalf. He was also attacked by Sinn Fein who said the MP had been "completely out of his depth" whilst serving as Northern Ireland secretary.

On Thursday, Mandelson was met by a media scrum as he attended a church service and has denied he deliberately pushed over a cameraman who was pursuing him.

Mandelson is understood to be determined to clear his name, and wants a public acknowledgement from Tony Blair that the home secretary, Jack Straw, had been wrong to accuse him of being "untruthful".

However his renewed attempt to clear his name was met with anger from government sources who over the weekend moved to dispel claims that a rehabilitation was possible.

The former Northern Ireland secretary believes he was rushed into resigning and that the Home Office moved to rubbish him after his departure.

Sources close to Mandelson have also made clear that he has not given up hope of returning to a top job in politics, and are suggesting he may have the post as EU commissioner, which will soon be vacated by Neil Kinnock, in his sights. Government sources scoffed at the possibility of Mandelson being given the job.

Labour is now attempting to move on from the affair, with the deputy prime minister, John Prescott, saying on Friday that the issue should now be left to Sir Anthony Hammond.

Speaking about renewed claims from the Mandelson camp, Prescott said: "As I understand it, it is friends of friends. They are hardly friends of the Labour Party. I think we should wait for the inquiry. That is the proper thing to do."

Prescott also denied that Mandelson had been pushed into resigning. He told the Today programme: "He made the decision as to why he resigned because there was some statement that he felt was misleading."

However, he did little to hide his anger at the fresh round of Mandelson reports. "It is all the froth of politics. It doesn't mean a damn. It is the next steps of this government that people are concerned with, not the next steps of Peter Mandelson," Prescott said.

For his part, Mandelson on Friday spoke to a local radio station about his shock resignation.

The former minister's position was given a boost when the GMB union, which is powerful in Mandelson's constituency, announced that it would continue to support him as the Labour candidate. However other constituency sources are calling on him to "fall on his sword" and announce that he is quitting politics altogether.