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However, his campaigns were not always a success - in 2015 he ran Blairite Liz Kendall's bid to become Labour leader, where she secured only 4.5% of votes in the contest won by Jeremy Corbyn.

As a staunch Blairite, he was considered to "be a strong supporter of the Good Friday Agreement", though not being one of its architects, he would possibly "be willing to look at it in a more flexible way".

Sir Keir Starmer must avoid leading Labour like a "Blairite tribute band", former shadow chancellor John McDonnell has warned.

"Keir cannot look like a Blairite tribute band and he knows that as well."

"The Blairite, internationalist and Democratic Party networks are buzzing with talk about Meghan's political ambitions and potential backers," the outfit quoted its source as saying.