Inside No10 salon where Cherie is power behind the throne

The full extent of the behind-the-scenes role Cherie Blair has played in shaping Government policy can be revealed today.

Downing Street has been anxious to scotch claims that the Prime Minister's wife is emulating Hillary Clinton, who, as the unelected First Lady, tried to reform US healthcare while her husband was in the White House.

But the Evening Standard can show how the "political salon" presided over by Tony Blair and Cherie at No10 has helped set the Government's direction on a range of fundamental issues from schools to the future of the health service.

Dozens of guests who attended the seminars have been contacted by the Standard to piece together a detailed picture of what goes on at the informal think-tanks.

Billed as the "Millennium Lectures" and hosted jointly by the Prime Minister and his wife, the events for "specialists and opinion formers", which began in January 1999, have seen top scientists, health professionals and company chairmen mix with pop stars like Bono and Bob Geldof at Downing Street.

Coverage of the most recent seminar on transport has left Mrs Blair open to criticism from Labour opponents that she has been "meddling" in Government policy.

Some influential guests insist it is wrong to suggest she takes control of the events, but it is clear she is not content to play a merely supporting role. The Prime Minister's wife helped organise the 10 seminars and chaired question-and-answer sessions while Government ministers sat silently by.

Tony Blair told guests at one lecture that they were "very much Cherie's idea". And as more details have emerged, it is clear the evenings of drinks, canapés, networking and debate have had a significant influence on Government thinking. Some key policies now reflect ideas aired at the sessions, including:

? Airline-style" booking systems for hospital outpatients and an expanded role for NHS nurses;

? Specialist schools and an end to the "bog standard" comprehensive school;

? Moves to promote citizenship to aid social cohesion in Britain.

The evening sessions begin with a reception in one of the Downing Street state rooms, usually the White Room or the Pillared Room on the first floor, where drinks are served.

The Prime Minister sits alongside the lecturer at a table in front of around 50 guests sitting theatre-style. Mr Blair usually exits at the lecture's end, leaving Cherie to move from her front-row seat to take charge of the debate, which lasts between 30 and 45 minutes.

Sources note that within two months of the session on how to balance work and leisure, two ministers - Baroness Jay and Tessa Jowell - were sent on a nationwide tour to talk to groups of women about changes they might like to see, while 12 months on, changes to maternity pay and paternity leave were announced.

Liberal Democrat MP Norman Baker is tabling questions in Parliament, demanding: "Cherie Blair is very intelligent, with a lot to contribute to public life, but I'm not sure it is appropriate to choose unelected people to orchestrate this sort of debate."

? Additional reporting by Tim Miles, Patrick Hennessy, Geraint Smith, Maxine Frith and Luke Leitch