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1994 British political agreement

The Blair–Brown deal (or Granita Pact) was a gentlemen's agreement struck between the British Labour Party politicians Tony Blair and Gordon Brown in 1994, while they were Shadow Home Secretary and Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer respectively.

Deal

It is widely believed that the pair had a meeting in 1994 at the restaurant Granita in Islington, London, following the unexpected death of John Smith, the then-Leader of the Labour Party, on 12 May of that year.

They agreed that Brown would not stand in the forthcoming Labour leadership election, so as to allow Blair a better chance of an easy victory, and in return Blair would appoint Brown Chancellor of the Exchequer upon Labour's presumptive victory.

In government, Brown would be granted unprecedented powers over domestic policy, which would make him the most powerful Chancellor in British history.^[1]

It is also widely believed that Blair agreed, if he were