Did Bush, Blair Plot vs. Gordon Brown?

Tony Blair and George Bush plotted to have Blair stay on as prime minister because Bush wasn't sold on Gordon Brown, claims the Sunday Telegraph. Labour Party sources tell the Telegraph that Bush's team expressed doubts about Brown after he "harangued" Condi Rice in a private meeting. Rice subsequently “complained to the White House about the way he behaved," an unnamed source says. The revelation comes ahead of Blair's hotly anticipated memoir, A Journey, which is out this week.

Apparently, Blair wished to groom David Miliband, then environment minister, as his replacement instead of Brown. Blair's rep denies the claims. In 2006 Tony Blair visited the White House on what was widely seen as a farewell tour, but returned with "newfound determination" to stay on as PM. “This at last answers the question of why Tony Blair tried so hard to stay on," says one source. (More Tony Blair stories.)