Tony Blair out of EU President race after Gordon Brown switches support

Published on Thursday 19 November 2009 17:42

TONY Blair was out of the running as Europe's new President tonight after Gordon Brown said he was switching his support to another Briton – EU Trade Commissioner Baroness Cathy Ashton.

• Tony Blair

She is now odds-on to become Europe's "foreign minister" – the second top job being allocated by EU leaders at a summit in Brussels.

Downing Street emphasised that Mr Brown only dropped his insistence on Mr Blair for the role of "President of the European Council" after arriving for the summit tonight to find support amongst his colleagues rapidly fading.

The situation became clear at a pre-summit meeting of EU Socialist leaders, including the Prime Minister.

"That being the case, Mr Brown took the initiative to ensure that the High Representative role will go to a UK person – someone who is already in the Commission, someone who is a woman – Cathy Ashton," a Downing Street spokesman said.

Other Socialist leaders – who had been struggling to agree on a centre-left candidate to submit for either of the jobs available, swiftly agreed – and tonight Downing Street indicated that some centre-right leaders would rally behind Baroness Ashton too.

"We don't anticipate any political blockages this evening," said one British official.

The surprise mustering of support for an outsider was seen as a mixture of pragmatism from Mr Brown coupled with enthusiasm from European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso.

The only person at tonight's talks over dinner apart from EU leaders themselves, Mr Barroso wants to increase the number of women in his Commission team.

And the role of EU "High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security" takes the rank of Commission vice-president – one of Mr Barroso's deputies.

He has been impressed by Baroness Ashton's performance since she took over as EU trade commissioner from Lord Mandelson almost exactly a year ago.

But few believed she was a serious candidate and, as the summit dinner got under way, some officials cautioned that the deal could come unstuck if the search for a European president became tricky.