Blair tells newspaper: 'I'm not going anywhere.'
(AFP)
Updated: 2006-01-06 09:22

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has insisted he is "not going anywhere", moving to quash speculation that he will step down well before the next general election.

In an interview Friday with daily tabloid The Sun, Blair said he owed it to the electorate who last May returned him to power for a third time to see his political programme through.

Blair said last year that he will not be contesting a fourth general election but did not say when he would make way for a new leader, most likely his long-standing finance minister Gordon Brown.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair speaks to journalists at his monthly news conference in Downing Street in London, December 21, 2005.[Reuters/file]

The Labour party leader said he was "absolutely happy" that Brown should succeed him but revealed the changeover would be nearer the next general election than sooner. An election will be called by 2010 at the latest.

Fresh from a family break in Egypt, Blair told The Sun: "I feel great. I feel good about the agenda we have. If you've won three elections then you are obviously what the people want.

"Why say you're only going to do it for another few years? That devalues what you have done, really. And speaking personally I think I've done pretty well.

"I want to see through the changes I've made and the changes I'm making. The propaganda of our opponents is that we've run out of steam. Well, you can see by my programmes that's not true.

"It is absolutely my intention to see the programme through, to see the changes of the New Labour agenda through. The agenda is busy and there are things I feel very, very strongly about and I want to see them through."

Speculation has been rife about when Blair will hand over power to Brown since his announcement not to fight for an unprecedented fourth Labour general election win in a row.

Blair has been under pressure in recent months following his first parliamentary defeat since coming to power in 1997 when MPs voted against a proposal to detain terrorist suspects for a maximum 90 days without charge.

His cherished public sector reforms in education and health, notably over a ban on smoking in public places which reportedly split his cabinet, have also been the subject of strong criticism.

But Blair vowed to fight rebels from within his own party who plan to derail his reforms, telling The Sun: "I'm confident I can win the arguments and get those changes."