Hello and welcome to the Political Party Podcast. This episode features Tony Blair. We reflect

on his three election campaigns, how he felt this close to Polling Day at the start of this

final week. The priorities for leaders going into Polling Day, the nature of TV debates,

whether he'd have done them, the massacism strategy of 2005 and so much more. As you

would imagine this is absolutely packed, I began by asking him a slightly cheeky question.

I'll leave you in the hands of Tony Blair.

So Tony, it's a big question. Who should a Blair I vote for in this election? I'm asking

for a friend. Well, I think it's important to back good candidates and for me Brexit's

still the key issue because it's not a decision as to who runs the government for the

next few years. It's a decision for generations. So I think if you're in a constituency, I've

obviously been said I'm voting Labour. There are good Labour candidates to back up and

campaigning for them. I can understand why, let me choose my words carefully. I can understand

why if you're a constituency and it's obvious that it's a Tory Lib Dem battle that people

would vote Lib Dem for example. But I think it's an election in which you've really got

to look constituency by constituency. And I know people find it very difficult because the

choices are pretty horrible within the context of this election for all the reasons we know.

So when you're out there on the doorstep, door knocking again for the Labour Party, what's

the public reaction when they open the door and there's Tony Blair?

Well, I can't say I've actually just been doing the normal run of the middle canvassing,

but I've gone into places and seen people, they're a bit kind of surprised actually,

but it's been good to be out again and be out supporting people. But also

talking to people about what concerns them. And I think I've never known election where there's

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