Limit posts to latest only on posts page

Hi,
I am using a theme that was build for me. The posts page code looks like this

<?php
/*
Template Name: lidstone news
*/

get_header(); ?>
		<?php get_sidebar(); ?>
                      <div id="content-column">
                        <?php if (function_exists('recent_posts')) recent_posts(); ?>
                      </div>
<?php get_footer(); ?>

How can I make only the latest post appear on the page?
Thanks