"BBC News" wrote:

[b]It's hard to let go, admits Blair[/b]

Tony Blair

The speech in full
Tony Blair admitted "it's hard to let go" as he used his last Labour conference speech as leader to urge the party to unite and win a fourth term.

He won a long standing ovation, telling an emotional Labour gathering: "You're the future now, make the most of it."

Winning the next election was the only legacy he had ever wanted, he said.

He praised Gordon Brown and laughed off his wife's alleged criticism: "At least I don't have to worry about her running off with the bloke next door."

Brown's disappointment

Mr Brown offered an olive branch to Mr Blair in his conference speech on Monday when he said it had been a privilege to serve under his premiership.

But that carefully-crafted attempt at reconciliation was marred by reports that Cherie Blair had called the comment a lie - something she has denied.

Mr Blair's speech came after ex-minister Peter Mandelson said Gordon Brown had never reconciled himself to Mr Blair being leader instead of him.

The prime minister, who received a rapturous ovation as he left the stage, said: "The truth is you can't go on forever, that's why it is right that this is my last conference as leader.

"Of course it is hard to let go. But it is also right to let go. For the country, and for you, the party.

"Over the coming months, I will take through the changes I have worked on so hard these past years.

"And I will help build a unified party with a strong platform for the only legacy that has ever mattered to me - a fourth term election victory that allows us to keep changing Britain for the better.

"And I want to heal. There has been a lot of talk of lies and truths these past few weeks."

Praise for Brown

As Mr Brown did in his speech, Mr Blair admitted there had been difficulties in their relationship.

"But I know New Labour would never have happened and three election victories would never have been secured without Gordon Brown," he said.

He is a remarkable man, a remarkable servant to this country - and that is the truth."

With the Conservatives ahead in the opinion polls, Mr Blair urged people to remember there were three years until the next election.

"Don't ignore the polls but don't be paralysed by them either," he said.

He rejected the old claims that he was a "closet Tory" himself.

"They say I hate the party and its traditions," he said. "I don't. I love this party. There's only one tradition I ever hated: it was losing."

Full Story Here: [url]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5380004.stm[/url]

So by this time next year Blairs Out and Browns in.

Exchanging one muppet for another.

It seems unlikely if New Labour wins the next allection.