Overview
- A Mandelson memo warned Tony Blair that Gordon Brown’s allies could undermine the election from within and urged limits on their campaign role to prevent “insider demolition.”
- A draft post‑election speech prepared for 6 May 2005 included a pledge by Blair to serve a full third term, language that was removed from the remarks he actually delivered.
- Cabinet secretary Andrew Turnbull cautioned on election day that the government’s ministerial bench was thin and called for formal training to raise performance and capability.
- Mandelson advised repairing ties with left‑leaning media after the Iraq fallout and said Alastair Campbell should remain influential but largely out of sight.
- Blair and Brown campaigned together for the win, yet the documents and subsequent events show that their tensions quickly resurfaced once back in office.