The man who could shatter Blair’s EU bid

If Tony Blair thinks his dream of becoming the first 'President of Europe' is going to be shoo-in, he can think again. A new candidate has emerged - Anders Fogh Rasmussen (pictured), Denmark's dashing liberal Prime Minister. Rasmussen, 55, described by Silvio Berlusconi as Europe's best-looking leader, is gathering support as an ideal compromise between the two front-runners, Blair and Bertie Ahern, who steps down as Irish Prime Minister today.

Although the post does not need to be filled until January 1, Blair has gathered the most support from EU leaders, notably French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Crucially, however, the former PM, who is now earning millions from his work in the private sector - so much so that he has just bought a £4m country house which was once the home of Sir John Gielgud - is not thought to have the crucial backing of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel. And Ahern is still engulfed in rumours that he received payments from property speculators in the 1990s.

Because of these considerations Rasmussen, who is considered pretty as well as "pretty with it" (he has his own Facebook site), is being seen increasingly as a good bet. "Whenever there is a big EU job, the leaders usually look round the table first and only look outside if there is no acceptable candidate. Anders is intelligent, he is liked, he is a centrist and he is keen," an EU diplomat close to the Danish leader told the Times today.

Tellingly, the same source revealed that Rasmussen, who has never publicly expressed interest in the EU job, has started learning French, one of the main working languages in Brussels.