Gordon Brown admits to leadership deal with Tony Blair

Gordon Brown has admitted he struck a deal with Tony Blair over the 1994 succession to the Labour leadership.

He said they agreed Mr Blair would have a clear run, and then support Mr Brown to take over when he stepped down.

But he told ITV1’s Piers Morgan’s Life Stories the deal was not made at the Granita restaurant as widely believed.

Brown also wept when he spoke about his daughter Jennifer, who died aged 10 days after suffering a brain haemorrhage in 2002.

The so-called Granita pact – named after the restaurant in Islington, north London – has been the subject of intense speculation.

Mr Brown succeeded Mr Blair as Labour leader, and prime minister, in June 2007.

Filmed in front of an audience, Mr Brown told the programme: “There was no deal struck at Granita’s. That’s been one of the great myths and people have written about it.”

He added: “I’d already agreed with Tony before that dinner that he would stand for the leadership and I would stay on as the shadow chancellor, as the person in charge of economic policy.

“And there’s an understanding that at some point Tony would stand down and he would support me if, when, that was the case. And that’s where we left it.”