Many of the senior party members present, including Blair, nodded in agreement. It was perhaps odd that it took an old leftie, who in recent years might have been politely ignored, to put new Labour’s leaders straight.

The evidence of how Blair, once Labour’s greatest asset, has become tarnished is clear in the unusual style of this election campaign. Distrusted by the public, Blair is also no longer trusted by party election strategists for casual campaigning.

Labour, like the Tories, is shunning the “battle bus” tours, which saw scores of reporters travelling with the prime minister. Instead, the launch pad for this campaign is far more discreet: from a heliport in Battersea, south London, helicopters take the main party leaders on their trips around the country.

On orders from Alastair Campbell, back as director of strategy for Labour, little warning is given of the prime minister’s plans. It is justified on security grounds but there are other motives, too.

Even trips within London are carefully managed. When Blair mysteriously appeared at Billingsgate fish market early on Thursday morning with a couple of dozen photogenic hand-picked supporters, for example, only a few tame journalists were told. No questions were allowed when Blair unveiled two posters to the tune of U2’s Beautiful Day. It was purely a photo opportunity for television.

The meetings with “ordinary” people have been staged to give the right impression. Some people have turned out to be Labour’s “rent a crowd”, with the same photogenic families appearing at different events. As one party insider privately admitted: “It doesn’t matter if Tony only meets a handful of people on a particular day; the TV pictures will get to millions of voters.”

The prime minister has not been keen to answer questions at these events, bruised by his clash last month with journalists over the alleged £35 billion “cuts” that he dubiously claimed the Tories were planning. Broadcasters are preparing a letter of complaint about the ban on questions should this behaviour continue.

Labour has, however, achieved some success by its news management. Conscious that the Blair-Brown rivalry could overshadow the campaign, Labour strategists wanted to nip speculation in the bud. For months Blairites have been begging Gordon Brown, the chancellor, to become more involved in the campaign but, according to them, he was “sulking” after he was supplanted as election chief by Alan Milburn.

A peace deal was brokered over the Easter weekend. Campbell paid a secret visit to Brown’s home at Queensferry in Fife. The two have not seen eye to eye for several years after Campbell was suspected of briefing that the chancellor was “psychologically flawed”. But Labour’s director of strategy knew that the campaign would be ruined if Brown did not come on board wholeheartedly.

The results were on display on Wednesday morning when Blair, appearing on GMTV, tried to scotch any lingering doubts about Brown’s future. He made it clear that Brown’s job at the Treasury was safe after the election because he was “probably the best chancellor in 100 years”. Nevertheless Blair looked rattled when questions about this dominated a news conference later.

The Tories had a better week, buoyed by some polls showing that they had closed to within a few points of Labour. Lynton Crosby, the Australian strategist brought in by Michael Howard, has advised the Tory leader to stick to his core messages.

Last week one of Howard’s first stops was to a hospital in Tooting, south London, to pledge to curb the MRSA bug. The Tories were also taking few chances: Howard was kept away from the press and did not answer questions.

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