Tony Blair: the first draft obituaries.

Tony Blair has not gone just yet but the press, which has a keen nose for such things, is scenting blood. The Times portrays him as a leader in a bunker, presiding over a government in chaos and clinging to power more in hope than expectation:

Mr Blair is beleaguered from all sides. His party is in despair; ministers in public, and even more in private, admit that things are falling apart; Downing Street’s relationship with the Westminster lobby of political journalists is under the severest strain; and the police are clearly closing in. Two of his aides have been arrested, one at dawn, and more questioning is imminent.

In the Daily Telegraph, a surprisingly temperate Charles Moore sees the Prime Minister as a deserved victim of his own and New Labours' moralising.

Finally, in the Guardian, John Harris considers the experience of being an ex-Prime Minister.

Tags: Labour Party, Tony Blair, Politics