Tony Blair: Gordon Brown has 'zero' emotional intelligence

Tony Blair repeatedly assured Gordon Brown that he would not contest the Labour leadership, then resolved within minutes of hearing of John Smith's death to stand, telling Peter Mandelson "it's mine", the former prime minister admits for the first time in his autobiography.

Blair reveals that even before Smith's death he was "straining at the leash", straying out of his policy brief and becoming more convinced that "something was missing" in Brown's ability to lead. He admits that he toyed with the idea of leadership before Smith's death in 1994, but told Brown he had his backing in order to avoid a battle. Read the rest at The Guardian

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George Bush and Tony Blair secretly 'plotted' to stop Gordon Brown becoming PM

According to the Telegraph, Tony Blair, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, tried to prolong his time as Prime Minister because there were concerns coming from across the Atlantic that Gordon Brown was very difficult to deal with.

The White House warnings, the Sunday Telegraph published this morning, played a key role in Mr Blair’s attempt to cling on to power until at least 2008, and to groom David Miliband as his successor.


Senior officials within the Bush administration sounded warnings after Brown met with then secretary of state Condoleezza Rice. Brown is said to have 'harangued' her over policy issues such as aid, development and Africa. 

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Brown announces resignation

Britain's election took yet another sudden turn today, as Gordon Brown, the current British prime minister, has announced that he intends to stand down as the leader of the Labour Party. This comes in a bid to lure the Liberal Democrats to form a coalition with Labour.


Mr Brown says that he will remain in office to oversee administrative roles, particularly in mediating talks to form a new government. His announcement in the late afternoon, according to the New York Times, stunned many in the country and within his own party.

According to the Times:

Quoting Downing Street insiders, British newspapers had reported that Mr. Brown was preparing a last-ditch effort to hang onto power and prolong his tenure as prime minister, which began when he succeeded Tony Blair in an internal Labour upheaval in 1997. That accorded with a matching determination not to cede power to the Conservatives among a group of loyal Labour cabinet ministers, who took to Britain’s airwaves at the weekend with the argument that the election had produced an “a progressive majority” against the Conservatives, with Labour and the Liberal Democrats winning 15.4-million votes against the Conservatives 10.6-million.

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UK "on hold" as coalition discussions continue

(Cathal McNaughton/Reuters)

While his negotiating team was locked in talks with the Tories, Nick Clegg met Gordon Brown. Liberal Democrat members had been furious at his earlier promise to talk exclusively to the Conservatives

Nick Clegg is making David Cameron sweat as the pair edge towards a deal that would put the Conservative leader in Downing Street.

Both sides will resume talks today. Their negotiating teams spent nearly six hours at the Cabinet Office yesterday, trying to thrash out an agreement, but Liberal Democrat sources suggested that it might be Thursday before Mr Cameron could think about walking into No 10.

William Hague, who led the talks for the Tories, and Danny Alexander, his Lib Dem counterpart, tried to reassure the markets by announcing that cutting the deficit would be at the heart of any agreed programme for government. There were no details about how such a programme would look.

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