Gordon Brown’s carefully-constructed pitch for Tony Blair’s job met with applause from most Labour MPs, a more mixed reaction from union leaders and a cautious, somewhat sceptical, welcome from business.

The chancellor’s speech was rated “9½ out of 10” by David Blunkett, who typified the supportive reaction – at least in public – of the bulk of the Parliamentary Labour Party. Many MPs, speaking in the afterglow of the chancellor’s peroration, argued he had proved his prime ministerial credentials.