BRITAIN: Tony Blair has electrified his last Labour conference as leader with a speech charging the party to secure his legacy with a fourth-term election victory.
In a stunning performance widely hailed as among his best ever, in which he robustly defended his government's policies and achievements over almost 10 years, Mr Blair admitted it was "hard to let go", while insisting it was right he should do so for both the party and the country.
While promising to give the Middle East the same attention he has given Northern Ireland during his remaining time in office, Mr Blair also said he would use "the coming months" to help unify the party on a platform "for the only legacy that has ever mattered to me - a fourth-term election victory that allows us to keep changing Britain for the better".
Mr Blair acknowledged that the challenges of the next 10 years, of globalisation and international terrorism without limit, were of a different order to those he inherited when assuming power in 1997.
Delegates cheered when he told them not to be paralysed by current opinion polls - and that they shouldn't be in politics "if we can't take this lot [ David Cameron's Conservatives] apart in the next few years".
The departing prime minister also made no attempt to tie his successor's hands beyond a reaffirmation of the necessity of ongoing public service reform and the folly of Britain turning its back on the United States or Europe.
"You are the future now, so make the most of it," he told the enthusiastic delegates before they rewarded him and wife Cherie with a seven-minute standing ovation.
However, while seeking to heal wounds caused by the recent attempt to force his early departure from Downing Street, and singling out chancellor Gordon Brown alone of cabinet ministers for praise, Mr Blair again declined to endorse him as his successor.
With Mr Brown's keynote speech wiped off many front pages yesterday by the reports that Cherie Blair called him a liar for saying he had been "privileged" to serve under her husband, Mr Blair faced up to these tensions, joking that at least he didn't have to worry "about her running off with the bloke next door".
However, he said political relationships conducted "in such a piercing spotlight" were not always easy, and amid such talk of lies and truth, he wanted to heal.
"I know New Labour would never have happened and three election victories would never have been secured without Gordon Brown," said Mr Blair.
"He is a remarkable man, a remarkable servant to this country."