since then I have been impressed by the quiet solidity of his convictions, even when I disagree with him.

But, he is not a global political celebrity in the Blair mould. Do we want a solid achiever or a gadfly ?

Who's that Italian comedian who embarrasses the government ? He'd be a good nomination

keep to the Fen Causeway

I suspect most Brits would be quite glad to have "their" man in charge of the continentals.

I don't think it's seen like that here. Blair is almost universally loathed now. I don't know anyone in any party who thinks of him as an inspirational or positive figure.

Europe is also loathed by the little-Englanders, but there are more reasoned conversations about the UK-EU relationship going on in some parts of the business community.

So Blair isn't really seen as One Of Us by anyone here. He wouldn't be seen as representing the UK in Europe. He'd been seen more as a kind of shadow mini-Saddam - the corrupt former despot of Blairistan, with its population of one and a half adults, a couple of teenagers, a wobbly toddler, plus a few lackeys and hangers on.

I think most people here would be happier to have Sarkozy as EU president. He seems to fit the Euro stereotype much more closely than a shape-shifting political mutant like Blair. In the UK Sarko seems to be considered good entertainment, no matter how dire he appears to the French.

Are there really no other alternatives from a bloc that stretches from the Atlantic to the Russian border?