Hazel Blears, the communities secretary fighting calls to resign, says her role in the expenses scandal represents "her worst time in 30 years of political life", and admits it may take many months or years for her reputation to recover.

Gordon Brown again described her behaviour as "totally unacceptable" after she failed to pay £13,332 in capital gains tax on a property she had declared as her second home to the parliamentary authorities and as her main home to the tax authorities.

Blears rejected calls to resign, pointing out that the prime minister had said that she had not broken either the law or parliamentary rules. She also pointed out that Brown's spokesman had insisted he had "full confidence" in her, and there was no question of her being sacked. Downing Street also indicated that Brown's criticism of Ms Blears did not imply she will be moved in any cabinet reshuffle after the European and local elections on 4 June.

One opinion poll yesterday showed 90% of voters want more heads to roll than just the Speaker, Michael Martin.

But in today's G2, Blears says: "This is my worst time in 30 years of political life. What matters is how people feel, and they feel let down.

"It doesn't really matter that the Commons authorities made me designate my London flat as my main home when I became a minister, and I fought to have that designation reversed because my main home is Salford first, last and always — I know that there are some people who believe I own three homes, when of course I have a house in Salford and a one-bed flat in London. I know people are very angry, and it will take many months for that anger to subside."

Last week Blears sent a cheque to HM Revenue and Customs for £13,332. She went on: "I know paying money to HMRC to the equivalent amount if I had been liable for capital gains tax doesn't fix things. But I do hope that over time people will respect me as a political activist and someone driven by values. There aren't many working class MPs in the Commons, and I believe I represent a constituency and a politics which needs to be represented."

Friends say they can not understand how she could be referred to the new Labour national executive panel on the basis that she had brought the party into disrepute unless other ministers were too. Blears has won the support of her local party executive in Salford.

However, Labour officials have referred Margaret Moran, the Labour MP for Luton South, to the NEC panel to see if she should remain the party candidate. She has been criticised for spending £22,500 on treating dry rot in her Southampton home, miles from her constituency.

Brown said Moran's expenses were "completely unacceptable", and she has agreed to pay the money back. The local party chairman, Mahmood Hussain denied reports that they had decided to support her.

It has been notable that many local parties, Conservative and Labour, have been supportive of MPs implicated in the expenses scandal, despite local anger.

The TV presenter Esther Rantzen has said she is considering standing against Moran at the next general election on an anti-sleaze ticket, saying she is "sick" of the political system.

Brown told GMTV: "There are many cases where people will be suspended, where people will have to stand down at the next election and no longer be candidates for the Labour party".

But Labour is due to await the verdict of an independent audit of every MP's expenses claims over the past four years. Brown has said he will throw money at the process after an initial assessment suggested it would take a year to review 750,000 claims.

A source at the Commons members estimate committee, which considers MPs' pay and allowances, said he doubted if the trawl would find more than one or two claims that breached the rules, unless the rules were reinterpreted retrospectively.

Anthony Steen, the Tory MP for Totnes, who claimed £80,000 from the taxpayer over four years for work at his £1m Devon mansion, announced that he would step down as MP after the next election. He follows Douglas Hogg, the Conservative MP for Sleaford and North Hykeham, who said he would stand down after it was revealed that he had claimed expenses for having his moat cleaned.

"The real focus for all Conservatives should be on winning the next election. For that reason, and because I don't want to distract from the real story here, I have decided not to stand," Steen said.

At prime minister's questions Brown again rejected David Cameron's calls for an immediate general election, saying an election now would cause chaos. Asked why, Brown replied: "What would cause chaos is if a Conservative government were elected and caused public spending cuts".

Cameron claimed this was an admission that Brown expected to lose the election. "I know the prime minister is frightened of elections, but how can he possibly believe that in the fourth year of a parliament in one of the oldest democracies in the world, a general election would cause chaos?"