Labour truce rocked

Gordon Brown's supporters were today urged not to portray his election role as a personal triumph over the Prime Minister.

Allies of Tony Blair say the campaign risks being undermined if the Chancellor is seen as putting himself "in the ascendancy". And they complained there had been "flexing of muscles" by Mr Brown's supporters.

Their concern comes as Robin Cook, one of Mr Brown's supporters, writes in the Evening Standard that the Chancellor will move into No 10 "sooner rather than later". Some of Mr Blair's allies were dismayed that Mr Brown's return to the front line generated headlines that he had been "anointed" as Premier in waiting. There are also rumours that he has insisted on changes to the party's manifesto as a price of his support.

Eyebrows were raised yesterday when Ed Balls, a close ally of the Chancellor, shared a press conference with election co-ordinator Alan Milburn and used the occasion to rule out compulsory second pensions, a policy advocated by leading Blairites.

One informed insider urged Mr Brown's supporters to resist the temptation to portray Mr Brown's return as a triumph over the Premier.

"There has been a lot of flexing of muscles recently," said the insider. "These moments when the Blairites or the Brownites appear in the ascendancy are times of great fragility." Stage-managed images of Mr Blair and Mr Brown touring the country, sharing an election broadcast and even being interviewed together have become the centrepiece of Labour's election pitch.

The campaign was hatched after private polling showed the public reacted "incredibly well" when the pair were seen to be working together. But the same research showed many voters shrank away in disgust if they were seen to be fighting or backstabbing.

The insider said: "There is a very clear decision that we do best when these two are together. It does not work to have one or the other - the public wants both.

"Neither is optimal for the electorate on his own. There are parts of the media and electorate which Gordon will never be able to reach. There are other parts that he can really work with."

Mr Blair felt confident enough of his position last night to joke at the Chancellor's expense. In a remark picked up by microphones, he commented: "I am doing the talking, Gordon is doing the hard work.He does the work, I get the credit, it is a good deal."

But his supporters will be further dismayed by Mr Cook's article. "The past week has seen a decisive shift in the balance of power between them," he writes. Mr Cook writes that two months ago he was told by a "member of the Blair inner circle" that the Chancellor would be fired soon after the election. "How long ago that conversation now seems." An NOP poll in the Independent today put Labour ahead by 38 per cent to the Tories' 32 per cent - seen as confirming the "Brown bounce".