GORDON BROWN is lining up one of Britain’s top financiers to bankroll a leadership bid, according to sources close to Tony Blair.

Brown is said to be preparing for Sir Ronald Cohen, the multimillionaire venture capitalist, to replace Lord Levy as Labour’s chief fundraiser if he becomes party leader.

Cohen has already given £800,000 to Labour and the sources say he has begun planning a “shadow” fundraising campaign, making discreet approaches to City businessmen favourable to a future Brown premiership.

The Treasury this weekend denied there were any such plans, possibly for fear of re-igniting the feud between Brown and Blair. Last week Blairites claimed Brown had set up a “shadow” cabinet in waiting.

According to sources, Cohen entertained one of Brown’s aides at his villa on the French Riviera last summer. He is also understood to have been building links with Middle Eastern politicians, including Met Ehud Olmert, Ariel Sharon’s deputy, to help promote Brown’s reputation on the international stage.

Cohen, worth an estimated £70m in the 2004 Sunday Times Rich List, is already Labour’s fourth biggest donor after Lord Sainsbury, Sir Christopher Ondaatje and the late Lord Hamlyn, according to official figures.

One Labour insider said: “Sir Ronald has got into bed with Gordon. It is known he is getting the finances in place for a future leadership campaign. Brown also realises that he must build up his image as an international statesman, which Sir Ronald is helping with.”

Another party source added: “The feud between Blair and Brown is extending to fundraising. Brown is trying to get Sir Ronald Cohen involved in raising funds for the Labour party to bolster his position.

“Sir Ronald is very keen to do this . . . He is also extending his role to get involved in the Middle East peace process. So now we have Lord Levy working with Blair and Sir Ronald working with Brown. However, No 10 is keen to keep Cohen onside.”

Any leadership bid could cost thousands of pounds. In appealing to party members during a leadership campaign, Brown will also hope to show he has significant financial backing to ensure the party’s future wellbeing.

Cohen, executive chairman of Apax Partners, Britain’s biggest venture capital company, is one of the most successful figures in the City.

He has been called “the father of British venture capital” — investing in dozens of firms before selling them on for multi-million pound profits.

He has homes in Notting Hill, west London, New York and Mougins, near Cannes, and unrivalled contacts in the City. Among his friends are some of Britain’s richest families, including the Rothschilds and the Rausings.

A long-standing friend and ally of Brown, Cohen was appointed by the chancellor in 2000 to chair a Treasury social investment task force that encourages entrepreneurs in deprived inner city areas.

Cohen’s support for Labour owes much to his rags-to-riches background. Born in to a Jewish family in Cairo, he fled Egypt in 1957 after the Suez war. He came to Britain at the age of 11, his family having lost everything from the persecution of Jews by President Nasser. He won a place at Oxford University and then took a business degree at Harvard before launching himself into business.

As well as his Labour connections, Cohen and his wife are well-known on New York’s glamorous social circuit and have been entertained by Bill Clinton at the White House.

No successful leader in recent times has been without a good fundraiser. Tory treasurer Lord McAlpine famously described himself as Baroness Thatcher’s “jolly bagman”.

Last week, Roberto Rey, Cohen’s assistant, said Cohen was overseas and unavailable for comment. He said he could not discuss Cohen’s relationship with the chancellor.

Brown’s spokesman said: “This is completely untrue. There have been no such discussions. There are no such plans.”

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