Lord Mandelson slams the door on ever becoming PM or Labour leader

Published on Thursday 13 August 2009 21:14

LORD Mandelson has ruled himself out as a future prime minister or leader of the Labour Party.

The Business Secretary – who is deputy prime minister in all but name – moved to quell speculation about his ambitions by officially declaring he would not go for the top job.

Suspicions were cast over his plans after the Cabinet minister side-stepped previous questions over whether he coveted the premiership.

But yesterday he said: "I have no prospect and no plans of standing as leader of the Labour Party.

"I am a member of the House of Lords.

"There is no opportunity for me to divest myself of my life peerage.

"A peerage is for life. A life peerage is a life peerage."

The remarks will dismay his fans but relieve his critics on both the Conservative and Labour benches.

Lord Mandelson has been standing in for the Prime Minister to take care of day-to-day business while Mr Brown holidays in the Lake District with his family this week.

The multi-tasking peer, who sits on 80 per cent of the Cabinet committees and presides over the key committee on domestic policy, even managed to run Britain by BlackBerry from Corfu over the weekend.

But yesterday he made clear that his time in charge at Number 10 was only temporary.

"It is me officially ruling it out," he said when asked whether he would ever stand for the top job.

Lord Mandelson added: "In this country, if you are made a life peer, it's for life."

But, perhaps underlining his regret at finally relinquishing his ambition, he added: "It's like a life sentence." His comments represent a stronger denial of his leadership ambitions than he has previously managed.

In an interview last month, Lord Mandelson said it "might be a comeback too many" but did not explicitly rule out a leadership bid.

The Business Secretary also repeated his claim that the Prime Minister would "relish" a United States-style televised debate with Conservative Party leader David Cameron.

When Lord Mandelson first raised the possibility of a televised debate last month, Downing Street said that Mr Brown would "never be afraid" to engage with Mr Cameron on policy issues.

However, officials stressed that, outside an election campaign, that was done in the forum of Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons.

That appeared to leave open the possibility of a TV debate once campaigning gets under way.

Lord Mandelson said yesterday: "There is no doubt in my mind that Gordon Brown would relish the debate."

The government has plans to amend the constitutional renewal bill to allow life peers to renounce their seats in the Lords to fight for a stint in the Commons. That had triggered suspicions that Lord Mandelson wanted a way back into the main chamber.

Conservatives – perhaps threatened by Lord Mandelson's political instincts – have pledged to oppose the move.

Britain has not had a peer as a prime minister since Conservative leader Lord Salisbury who served until 1902.

Yesterday, bookies also lengthened their odds on Lord Mandelson becoming prime minister.

The Business Secretary's chances had been upped from 200/1 to 10/1 in the past few weeks following a large bet.

But Ladbrokes yesterday pushed the odds to 14/1 after his denial.