Peter Mandelson’s 2005 general election warning to Tony Blair over rival Gordon Brown
Newly released government files have revealed Peter Mandelson warned Tony Blair not to let Gordon Brown supporters ruin Labour’s 2005 general election campaign from within.
Relations between Mr Blair and his chancellor were close to breaking point in the autumn of 2004, as Mr Brown and his allies believed the then prime minister had reneged on a promise to allow the party to take over towards the end of his second term, as Labor was poised for a historic third consecutive election victory.
The much-discussed remark was part of the so-called “Granita pact”, in which Mr Brown agreed to step aside to give Mr Blair a clear candidacy to lead the Labor Party following the death of former Labor leader John Smith in 1994.
Files lodged at the National Archives at Kew, west London, show that Mr Mandelson, long one of Mr Blair’s closest allies, warned him that such tensions with his chancellor needed to be managed carefully during the election campaign.
Before traveling to Brussels to take up the post of Britain’s EU commissioner, the former cabinet minister said one of the challenges would be “where to agree”. [Gordon Brown’s] people can be included without giving them veto power or scope for subversion from within”.
Mr Brown has said he would want to inherit a healthy Commons majority when he eventually takes over, but he would not want Mr Blair to take the credit.
“You will be a big problem personally. The media will want to increase the pressure on you to a new level of intensity. Next door [Mr Brown] “He will want a good majority, but he will not want you to be good,” he wrote.
Eventually the two men managed to resolve their differences sufficiently to campaign together; Mr Blair even bought the Chancellor an ice cream at an event. However, tensions quickly re-emerged when Labor came back into office.
Mr Mandelson, who later served as the UK ambassador to the US under Sir Keir Starmer’s government and resigned over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, also stressed the need to persuade “acceptable left-wing media” following outrage over Britain’s involvement in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the files show.
To that end, he said Alastair Campbell, who left No 10’s communications chief amid controversy over the government’s notorious dossier on weapons of mass destruction, should be kept in the background.
“You must be conscious of the need to create reasons for them to come back to the party. Avoid things that will anger them (so be careful with the AC; it is indispensable but should be equally invisible),” he said.
The files also show officials encouraged Mr Blair to strip deputy prime minister John Prescott of his responsibilities for communities and local government after the election ended.
Mr Prescott had been resisting the move because he feared he would be accused by the Conservatives of not having a decent job.
But cabinet secretary Sir Andrew Turnbull has expressed concern that he could retain some ministerial elements, which could lead to further administrative turmoil in Whitehall.
“I understand that DPM has suggested that if it leaves the current department it should still take the housing and planning portfolios with it. I also understand that you are resisting this. I strongly recommend that you continue to do so,” he wrote.
“The worst outcome would be to allow him to dismantle the department once again. I think it would be better to leave him where he is than to create a series of artificial boundaries.”
Ultimately, Mr. Blair waited another year before taking action, eventually eliminating Mr. Prescott’s entire departmental portfolio after he was weakened politically by revelations that he had been having an affair with his secretary.
Sir Andrew also hit out at the qualifications of junior ministers from the ranks, saying they needed more training to do their jobs effectively.
“If you think of yourself as a football manager with no money for transfers and solely dependent on graduating people through the academy, there is reason to worry,” he wrote.
