As Gordon Brown was unofficially crowned as Britain’s new Prime Minister last night, the six candidates vying to be his deputy were keen to distance themselves from his predecessor.

There was barely a mention of Tony Blair as the six took part in a head-to-head debate in Central London.

Only in the last ten minutes, when Peter Hain described agonising over his decision to “support Tony” over Iraq and Hilary Benn praised his leadership on climate change, did the outgoing premier feature at all.

By contrast, all the candidates were at pains to praise his successor, and to place clear water between themselves and certain key policies of the old regime.

Hazel Blears, the most Blairite of the six, called for the Labour Party to move on: “No more Blairites, no more Brown-ites, just Labour.” In a reference to the North London restaurant where the pair met to discuss Mr Blair’s leadership bid, she added: “In case anyone hadn’t noticed, Granita is shut.”

The other female candidate, Harriet Harman, attacked Mr Blair’s flagship specialist schools programme, arguing that it created unnecessary difficulties for parents in having to identify their children’s strong points at age 10.

Parents simply want “a good local school”, she said, claiming that the choice agenda was a result of Conservative neglect of state schools.

Ms Harman emphasised how well she would complement Mr Brown as his deputy by appealing to different sections of society. As a southern woman, she pointed out that Labour needs to win votes “from women as well as men, from the South as well as the North”.

Speaking in front of an audience largely comprised of Labour Party members, the six agreed that national security and climate change would be two of the most pressing challenges to face Mr Brown’s government.

Mr Hain, the Northern Ireland Secretary, said that “liberties have been taken” in the War on Terror, and described the treatment of Walter Wolfgang, the delegate who was thrown out of the Labour Party conference for heckling, as “absolutely unacceptable”.

On the domestic front, housing was cited by all six as a looming crisis, with John Crud-das, the only nonministerial candidate, demanding that ideology should not prevent a big new council house building programme: “The outstanding issue is housing. There has been chronic market failure.”

All six also spoke about the need to rebuild party structures, encourage activism and — in nonBlairite fashion — bolster the role of trade unions in the party and country.

Alan Johnson, the Education Secretary, cited the former TUC general secretary John Monks, who said that the unions were treated as “embarrassing elderly relatives” during the first Blair Government, and praised the work they are doing in improving conditions for EU migrants.

The campaign team of Mr Benn, the International Development Secretary, said last night that he had secured a 45th nomination — enabling him to join the other five in the ballot. Mr Benn emphasised the role of unions in education, and said that the “helping hand” they offered to working people was needed as much now as in the 19th century.

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