SIR Tony Blair’s staff boast that Keir Starmer will bring them into Downing Street if he wins the election, the Sun on Sunday can reveal.
Insiders say there is already a revolving door between the Tony Blair Institute and the Labour Party.
GettyTony Blair’s staff are expected to fill key posts in No10 under a Starmer government[/caption]
And TBI staff are planning for top jobs advising Sir Keir if he is handed the keys to Downing Street.
“The TBI has people who have previously served in the civil service who have experience that will be a real asset to the next Labour government,” one insider said.
“Labour will think – who can we source people from? And the TBI will be something he leans on.”
Insiders say Sir Keir will call on Blair’s political consultancy in the same way Tory PMs use right wing think tanks for policy ideas.
It comes as Labour left wingers complain they are being “purged” from the party amid a takeover of Blairites.
At their first public appearance together this summer, Sir Tony turned to Sir Keir and told him the country would be “in good hands” if he won the next general election.
“A lot of Corbynista Trots are angry to see Keir with Tony,” another source said. “But there’s a lot of people who miss Tony. They want a statesman after the recent farce.”
TBI staff will be hitting the party scene at Labour conference in Liverpool this month. Although sources say Sir Tony himself will not attend.
His institute is holding more events than ever at Labour with 13 panels – compared to just three at the Tories and one at Lib Dems.
Sir Keir handed big promotions to Blairites in his recent reshuffle and sent soft left MPs into retreat.
He has surrounded himself with New Labour aides and made the former head of insight at the TBI, Marianna McFadden, his deputy campaign director.
One Labour MP insisted Sir Keir was his “own man” but added: “Keir and Rachel [Reeves] have been following Blair’s playbook when it comes to things like economic policy.”
Another added: “They [Blairites] aren’t some cult, people will be there on individual capability.
“People with sensible views were marginalised under Corbyn and now they’re not.”
One said Sir Keir had been getting briefings from Lord Peter Mandelson who masterminded Labour’s landslide election win in 1997 and regularly spoke to Blair.
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