Tony Blair: I would be prime minister again Tony Blair: 'One of my regrets is that what I have learned in the last five years would have been so useful to me [as prime minister].' Tony Blair has said in an interview marking the fifth anniversary of his resignation as prime minister that he would be prepared to do the job again, but that he recognises this is unlikely. He also claims that he has learned much in the past five years that would make him a better prime minister. Blair describes being forced out by Gordon Brown despite the fact that he thought he could have stayed on as Labour leader, but only at the end of a bloody internal party battle. He also accuses his successor of leading Labour to inevitable election defeat by abandoning New Labour in the wake of the financial crisis. The interview in the London Standard - which he guest-edited on Wednesday - is part of a slow rehabilitation process being undertaken by the former prime minister using the occasion of the London Olympics to remind voters of aspects of his legacy apart from Iraq. Discussing his time since leaving office, he says: "I am seeing a lot of the world and I have learned an immense amount in the past five years. One of my regrets is that what I have learned in the last five years would have been so useful to me [as prime minister]. Because when you see how the world is developing you get a far clearer picture of some of the issues our country is grappling with. What I can do is contribute to the debate, whether it is Europe or the Arab spring or areas to do with economy and public service reform here. Asked directly if he would do the job again, he said: "Yes, sure, but it's not likely to happen is it, so ..." Discussing his departure, he says: "It was very strange because I had been preparing to go ever since I was forced out because of the events of the previous September, so in one way I didn't want to go but I felt that I had to. The only choice would have been to have fought a very bloody battle internally which I thought would damage the country as well as the party. He also claims politics has changed greatly since 2007: "There was a predictability about government and an inherent stability. I did not foresee the tumult which would follow - the financial crisis and the aftermath of that. The problem for the Labour party was that it couldn't make up its mind whether to stay New Labour or not, so it didn't really and then in my view defeat was inevitable after that. Setting out his predictions for the next few years, he says: "I think the Lib Dems will struggle at the next election. My advice to the Labour party is to sort ourselves out with a strong modern policy. Frankly you can't tell what will happen, if there will be a coalition or not, but I suspect it will be far more of a two-party fight next time. Ed Miliband has made a conscious decision that he is going to keep the Labour party in the centre, and that is sensible. He describes how he thinks the financial crisis has redrawn the political debate in an unpredictable way. "I think the hardest thing for any political party now is to work out what has really changed since the financial crisis and what hasn't," he says. My view is that you still, in order to win from the Labour perspective, have to have a strong alliance with business as well as the unions. You have got to be very much in the centre ground on things like public sector reform. Today the level of uncertainty is such that it calls upon political leaders to take very big decisions and there are two types of politician: there are reality creators and reality managers. And for much of the postwar period those who have managed reality have been absolutely adequate. I think we are embarking on a period both in the economy and foreign policy where we are going to have to create reality. Blair cites Iraq's growing economy and falling infant mortality rate as potential for a resolution for the country. "It will end up with a happy ending but it has to go through what the whole region has to go through, which is to put religion in its proper place and to realise democracy isn't just a technical system but an attitude of mind," he says. He makes a comparison with Northern Ireland, on the day that the Queen shook hands with Martin McGuinness. I think it is fantastic that we have come so far. The Queen's is a magnificent gesture and thoroughly typical because it must be very difficult for her - it is a sign of how much has changed. He also recounts how quickly he was thrown into isolation after leaving Number 10: "It was completely bizarre because I sent a text - my first text to a friend - and I hadn't realised that my name didn't automatically come up. So my text said: 'Hi, how are you? Be good to see you. And the reply came back: 'Sorry, but who are you?'