Tony Blair yesterday refused to throw in the towel as a potential European Union president, in spite of evidence that Europe will choose its new head from a cast-list of relatively unknown figures on the world stage.

The two-day EU summit in Brussels ended with Mr Blair's candidacy looking doomed. However, he was said by aides to be "relaxed" and British officials still hope he can win through when Europe has a closer look at the options.

A decision on who should take Europe's top jobs has been deferred until another summit - probably on November 10 or 12.