Blair says he would have bettered Brown in the 2010 election

Blair: I Would Have Bettered Brown In 2010

The ex-PM says the general election would have been a tighter contest if he had still been Labour leader instead of Gordon Brown.

4:21pm UK, Friday 05 April 2013




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Former Prime Minister Tony Blair has said he would have given David Cameron "a run for his money" in the last general election.
He boasted that the election - which resulted in a hung parliament with Mr Cameron's Conservatives the largest party - "would have been tighter than it was" if he was still at the helm of the Labour Party.
Mr Blair with David and Samantha Cameron
Although Mr Blair did not say he would have won the election outright, his comments, made in an interview with Bloomberg Markets magazine, illustrate that he feels Labour would have stood a better chance of victory under his leadership - rather than his successor Gordon Brown.
It is a sign that the bitter rivalry between the two senior figures in New Labour still lingers.
Mr Blair led Labour to three election victories but his reputation was tarnished by the Iraq War and his leadership was troubled by in-fighting between factions loyal to him or Mr Brown, who took over as prime minister in 2007.
He said: "Frankly, if I'd had a fourth election, I would have given Cameron a run for his money. I'm not saying I would have won, but it would have been tighter than it was."
Mr Blair also spoke of his regret at not being offered the job of president of the European Council.
The 59-year-old, who has been involved in a string of business and charity projects since leaving office, said he would have taken the European post.
Despite lobbying for him by Mr Brown's government, the post was eventually filled by Belgium's Herman Van Rompuy.
"If the European job had been offered to me, I would have taken it," Mr Blair said. "But it wasn't."
Bitter rivals: Mr Brown and Mr Blair at an event in November 2011
Since resigning six years ago, he has taken on a number of highly paid jobs helping seal big business deals, advising states including Abu Dhabi and Kazakhstan, as well as making money from speaking engagements.
According to the magazine, Mr Blair and his firms have taken in at least £59m and his charities have made revenue of £25m since 2007.
He said: "It genuinely is about making a difference in the world and not about making money.
"The motivation is not the accumulation of personal wealth. If I'd wanted to do that, I could do it a lot simpler with a lot less time."
He said his business activities were helping to bankroll his charities and that he was increasingly subsidising their work out of his own pocket.
The ex-PM also said he pays income tax at the full 50% top rate.

I think he is living in a dream world there (as usual)  I should think every person in the country had his measure by then. Even the ones that benefited tremendously from his country wreaking policies knew he was a money grabbing dangerous fool.

fuzeta wrote:I think he is living in a dream world there (as usual)  I should think every person in the country had his measure by then. Even the ones that benefited tremendously from his country wreaking policies knew he was a money grabbing dangerous fool.

Hi fuzeta, he still is  a money gabber and trying to get back into Parliament because he misses the limelight . I don't know how accurate this is, but when Tony was PM he and Cherie ware visiting a Middle East Country and a dinner in their honour was hosted by the Sheik who later took them into a room filled with expensive items and asked them to take a souvenir of their visit.......they took 62 items.!!!!!