Blair book is bad timing for Labour leadership contest

TONY BLAIR became renowned for his sound judgement of political timing while in office.

After all, Mr Blair was the man who was elected Labour leader in 1994 just as the Conservative government were at their most unpopular.

He then won two landslide election victories in 1997 and 2001 before winning a third general election in 2005 despite having controversially led the country into war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

At this point, having served two full terms, Mr Blair was meant to hand over the premiership to Gordon Brown but he famously reneged on the deal.

Extracts of Mr Blair's new book The Journey make it clear why he was so wary of Mr Brown taking charge.

By 2005, their relationship had completely broken down. Mr Blair states in the book that Mr Brown was "maddening" to work with, and that the then-Chancellor threatened to stall Mr Blair's precious New Labour reforms.

Indeed, their partnership was in such tatters that Mr Blair had even consulted Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson over the task of getting rid of a 'star' player.

In the end, Mr Blair chose to keep his Chancellor and eventual successor, fearing that sacking him would only accelerate his rise to the top, given the standing he then held within the party.

When Mr Blair did eventually step down in 2007, his timing was spot on again as he avoided the unforeseen global recession which ended up plaguing Mr Brown's three years in charge.

However, today's occasion, the timing of the release of Mr Blair's memoirs leaves a lot to be desired for Labour, overshadowing a vital stage of the party's leadership contest.

Worse still, Mr Blair and his long-time ally Peter Mandleson seem intent on reviving New Labour politics during the contest even though it is now associated more with infighting than anything constructive.

If nothing else, Mr Blair's book simply acts as a reminder as to how divisive government became under New Labour, a major factor in its eventual failure at the polls in May.

And yet, Labour look set to select more of the same with Blairite former foreign secretary David Miliband holding a comfortable lead in all of the polls of the leadership contest.

Despite his words to the contrary, it is hard to see how Mr Miliband is a clean break from the past. At least his brother Ed seems to have accepted New Labour's biggest mistakes such as the removal of the 10p tax band.

But this is the same Ed Miliband who wrote the manifesto for this year's failed general election campaign and that is something he is unlikely to shake off easily.

The other three candidates - Ed Balls, Andy Burnham and Diane Abbott - would appear to have little or no chance of succeeding in this contest.

Indeed, backbencher Ms Abbott only ended up on the ballot paper by collecting MPs signatures which would have gone elsewhere but for the need to make the contest appear more inclusive.

The likely election of David Miliband to the leadership is unlikely to distinguish easily this Labour opposition to the New Labour government largely rejected by the public in May.

There remain fears among Labour circles that the party could be in for another long spell of opposition if the Conservatives improve their position at the next election.

Being Labour leader in the coming years could be a thankless task, perhaps even a poisoned chalice.

But then not all party leaders can be as lucky with their timing as Mr Blair.