‘Too complacent’: how Blair’s advisers misjudged his disastrous WI speech

Former PM’s team suggested initial less-politicised drafts seemed patronising and appealed to ‘fuddy-duddy Britain’

• Brown’s allies could wreck Labour’s 2005 election hopes, Mandelson warned

Tony Blair’s key advisers agonised over the writing of his notoriously ill-judged speech to the Women’s Institute (WI) which saw the then prime minister heckled and slow hand-clapped before 10,000 members at Wembley Arena, newly released documents reveal.

Despite the WI explicitly warning they were “wary of anything that smacked of capital P politics”, Blair’s aides were critical of his first draft and bombarded him with additions to inject more policy.