On occasions we have also been the victim of division and disunity which, as we all know, has cost us dear in electoral terms. It has allowed the Tories to win and undermine our achievements.”A party source said: “We will be pointing out that we have been in power for only 23 of the 100 years. We have to acknowledge that we have only been successful when we have been forward looking, modern and in touch with the British people That is the most important lesson of our hundred years It is not going to be a triumphalist expression of victory. We aren’t going to be saying ‘this is the Labour Party, ra, ra, ra’.”It will be looking back at what we have achieved. It will be highlighting the fact that it was this Labour Government that delivered the minimum wage and the reform of the House of Lords, both of which were aspirations when we were formed 100 years ago.”In keeping with Mr Blair’s keynote speech, party organisers have made sure that the event will have strong New Labour overtones, presenting the modernising and multi-cultural face of the party.There will be no streamers or champagne.

But music will be provided by a West Indian-style steel band and the MCs will be the comedy actors Stephen Fry and Tony Robinson. Veteran members of the Labour Party will be there, but the invitation-only audience of 1,000 will include a sprinkling of New Labour celebrities. There will be BBC archive of the highlights of the party’s past 100 years including the Labour cabinets of Ramsay Macdonald, Clem Attlee, Harold Wilson, and James Callaghan.Cabinet ministers also are being despatched to lead other events marking Labour’s 100th anniversary around the country. Mo Mowlam will be a special guest at Tony Blair’s constituency centenary celebrations in Trimdon, Sedgefield.

Stephen Byers will be hosting a centenary question and answer session in Luton; Andrew Smith will be at the Royal Naval Museum, Portsmouth; Clare Short will be at Labour’s new regional headquarters in Nottingham; Donald Dewar and John Reid will be in the Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, home of Labour’s first leader, Keir Hardie, and Jack Straw will accompany Michael Foot at the People’s History Museum in Manchester.Alistair Darling will be at Bradford City FC for Yorkshire’s centenary celebrations; Ian McCartney will be at the Telford Iron Bridge Museum; Nick Brown will be in Plymouth; and Paul Murphy will host the Welsh celebrations.. Tony Blair has been ranked below Harold Wilson in a poll of Labour MPs for their choice of the best Labour leader of the past 100 years. The MPs voted for Mr Blair in fourth place in the poll, to mark Labour’s centenary, behind Clement Attlee, who came top, Wilson, and John Smith, who never became prime minister. Tony Blair has been ranked below Harold Wilson in a poll of Labour MPs for their choice of the best Labour leader of the past 100 years. The MPs voted for Mr Blair in fourth place in the poll, to mark Labour’s centenary, behind Clement Attlee, who came top, Wilson, and John Smith, who never became prime minister.
Officials but a brave face on Mr Blair’s low position in the leadership rankings by his own MPs, saying he was firmly in the Attlee and Wilson mould of winning elections by being modernisers.