Tony Blair casts a long shadow. It is three years and two prime ministers since he left Downing Street and yet he can still make the political weather. The launch of his memoirs dominated the media in a way that no other political event, short of a Budget could. The thing is, whatever you think about Blair, you do think about him – you've got a view. He cannot be ignored. And if this is true for the ordinary reader and voter, it is so much more true for politicians – of all parties.
At the moment, it is the Labour Party that seems most transfixed. Blair's book is published just as the lengthy and oddly low-key leadership election enters its final straight. Ballot papers are in the post to members, together with their online-ordered copies of A Journey. While most people will be fascinated by the revelations about precisely how bad his relationship with Gordon Brown finally became – the so-called TB-GBs – the real interest for political addicts lies in what it means for Labour's future.
