Blair–Brown deal

At the 2005 general election, Labour were returned for a historic third consecutive term in office; albeit with a significantly reduced majority due to gains made from the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.

[6] The Guardian published a written note in June 2003 which, it said, outlined the policy areas proposed by Brown that Blair would commit to as part of the deal, namely a "fairness agenda" consisting of "social justice, employment opportunities and skills" under a Labour Government.

[9] An account of the pact between the two politicians was presented in detail in the book of 2001, The Rivals: The Intimate Story of a Political Marriage, written by BBC journalist James Naughtie.

[citation needed] The relationship between Blair and Brown from the years 1983 to 1994 – culminating in an in depth dramatisation of the Granita meeting – was the focus of a 2003 made-for-television film directed by Stephen Frears and written by Peter Morgan, based in part upon Naughtie's book.

[citation needed] A caption in the opening titles (directly inspired – according to Frears – by the identical epigraph at the start of the film of 1969, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid)[10] informed viewers that "much of what follows is true".

The empty premises of the former Granita restaurant at 127 Upper Street, Islington, where Blair and Brown are believed to have made the deal. Pictured in March 2013.