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Tony Blair would like to return as UK prime minister

LONDON — Tony Blair revealed he would like another term as UK prime minister and said he quit only to avoid a “bloody battle.”

Blair, who admitted it is unlikely that he could return to power, told the London Evening Standard he believes he is now better equipped to do the job.

Asked if he would accept another term as prime minister, he said, “Yes, sure, but it’s not likely to happen is it, so…”

“I have learned an immense amount in the past five years,” he added. “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.”

If Blair did re-enter Number 10, the 59-year-old would be the first British leader to regain power since Harold Wilson in 1974.

Blair, who gave way to Gordon Brown in 2007, told the paper that he stepped down because he feared that staying could have ripped Labour apart.

“I didn’t want to go but I felt that I had to,” he said. “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.”

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