Kinnock: Brown favourite for PM

Gordon Brown is a "man of great strengths," says Neil Kinnock

Gordon Brown is best placed to become the next prime minister if Tony Blair retires, Neil Kinnock has predicted.

But the former Labour leader and outgoing EU commissioner said Mr Brown would not challenge for the leadership until Mr Blair decided to step aside.

Speaking on ITV1's Jonathan Dimbleby programme, Mr Kinnock called the chancellor "a man of great strengths".

He added he had "always been certain" Mr Brown would defeat other senior Labour ministers in a leadership race.

Speaking after the UK Chancellor's pre-Budget speech on Thursday, Mr Blair said he thought Mr Brown "would make an excellent prime minister".

I don't think that the race will be tumultuous and I certainly don't think it will be long Neil Kinnock

Mr Blair announced in September his intention to serve a third term, if re-elected, but not a fourth.

Commentators have since speculated about when he might step down, while there are concerns that senior ministers jockeying for position in a leadership might destabilise the government.

But Mr Kinnock said there would be no leadership contest until Mr Blair took the decision to step down.

In the interview, to be broadcast on Sunday, he said: "Nothing's going to happen until Tony decides it will happen... there's going to be no effort to dislodge Tony Blair.

"He will make up his own mind.

"When that occurs I don't think that the race will be tumultuous and I certainly don't think it will be long.

Neil Kinnock said Mr Brown would not seek to oust Mr Blair

"And if he [the chancellor] seeks to become leader of the Labour Party and therefore prime minister, I'm certain, I always have been certain that Gordon Brown will emerge as the victor."

When asked if it would be a one-horse race, Mr Kinnock said: "There will probably be other candidates. I mean that's good, to have a democratic choice.

"But Gordon plainly is a man of great strengths and will be a strong contender."

He added: "He is not an insurrectionary, he is not someone who would seek to displace one of the most successful prime ministers that the country's had the good fortune to know."

'Mini-tribes'

Mr Kinnock also spoke out against infighting within the Labour Party, after the EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson pleaded with Mr Brown's supporters recently not to "take their fight with me onto the European stage".

Mr Mandelson - who has had a difficult relationship with Mr Brown - then risked annoying him further by calling for the government to fix a date for entry into the euro.

Mr Kinnock said: "The individual views of those who surround the principal characters in this drama...are somewhat less significant than the overall well-being of the country that they serve and indeed the party to which they belong.

"And therefore...the debate should continue where there are differences of view... (but they should) try even harder to ensure that those working with them and for them don't form themselves into mini-tribes where they can conduct rivalries in the public press."

The Jonathan Dimbleby programme, Sunday 5 December, ITV1 1315 GMT.