Labour first promised to make all forms of hunting with dogs illegal in its ill-fated 1983 manifesto, described at the time by Gerald Kaufman as the "longest suicide note in history".

Labour support for a ban on hunting gained momentum but Tony Blair was wary of upsetting Middle England and the 1997 manifesto offered a fudge. It promised "a free vote in Parliament on whether hunting with hounds should be banned by legislation".

However, Mr Blair refused to provide government time for a Bill. It was left to a backbench Labour MP, Michael Foster, to introduce the Wild Mammals (Hunting with Dogs) Bill to ban fox hunting. Mr Foster secured a massive majority, but his Bill was killed before it reached the Lords through lack of time, beginning the long campaign that ended last night.

Mr Blair surprised all sides in the debate on the BBC's Question Time in July 1999, when he said: "It will be banned. We will get the vote to ban as soon as we possibly can."

Mike O'Brien, the Home Office minister, introduced a Bill in July 2000 offering three options: a ban on hunting, self-regulation of hunting, or a statutory hunt licensing authority. On a free vote MPs voted 387 to 174 to ban hunting. The Lords voted instead for self-regulation, and rejected the so-called "middle way" option of statutory licensing by 202 votes to 122.

In March 2002, Alun Michael, the minister for Rural Affairs, announced that a new Bill would be introduced after further consultation. Mr Blair had voted for a ban but shifted policy in favour of a compromise after the Burns inquiry and public hearings on the draft Bill. The government Bill introduced in December 2002 proposed a licensing system for fox hunting similar to the "middle way" group proposals. MPs opted for an all-out ban on hunting by a majority of 208.

That set the scene for the constitutional clash with the Lords. Pro-hunting peers rejected a compromise and voted to restore hare coursing and stag hunting, in addition to fox hunting, which senior ministers said was a fatal mistake for the Countryside Alliance.

The licensing Bill fell through lack of time in the last session, but was reintroduced by the Government in its amended form, to ban hunting with the threat of the Parliament Act. Mr Blair may have preferred to quietly drop the idea, but with trust shattered after the war on Iraq, he told senior colleagues the promise to resolve the hunting issue had become a "trust issue".

For the sixth time in six years, MPs voted by a massive majority on a free vote - 343 to 175 - in favour of a total ban.