Cherie spills beans on Brown and Blair

Last Modified: 10 May 2008
By: Lucy Manning

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair was under a lot of pressure to step down, says his wife - but now he is advising the new man in the job, Gordon Brown, on how to win the next election.

They joked about it - but everyone knew the relationship between Mr Blair, Mr Brown and Cherie Blair was anything but cosy.

In her autobiography, serialised today, she finally speaks for herself -detailing the tensions between her husband and the man who was to succeed him.

She said: 'There was no doubt that in April 2004, with Gordon rattling the keys above his head, Tony suffered a crisis of confidence as to whether he was still an asset to the Labour Party. I remained determined that Tony was not going to resign, that he was going to fight the next election and that he was going to win it.'

Cherie said that Gordon wanted to become Prime Minister so much that he failed to understand that if he had carried on her husband's reform policies, Mr Blair would have stepped down.

But Mr Blair is still providing advice for his predecessor.

That is a bit embarassing for Mr Brown, who was desperate to run things his way.

Cherie says her husband still thinks Mr Brown can win the next election and is speaking to Gordon about how to do that.

One Labour MP told me if we're relying on Tony's advice, we're sunk.