Gordon Brown, Britain's chancellor of the exchequer, will almost certainly replace Tony Blair as the country's prime minister next year. Nothing in politics is ever certain – and there are many people in the ruling Labour party who doubt that this dour 55 year old Scot is an election winner. But no serious challengers have emerged, so the finance minister's desire to enter Number 10 in 2007 looks unstoppable.

In an interview with the Financial Times on Wednesday, Mr Brown did not want to discuss the succession.