Sacked Mandelson recruited BBC boss to help beg for a new government job
Papers released by the National Archives show Lord Mandelson hoped Lord Birt, the former BBC director-general, would help him to secure another top job and 'fulfil his promise'.
Lord Mandelson, who is now the UK's ambassador to the US, was appointed by Sir Tony in 2004 to the post of Britain's European commissioner, which oversaw trade.
He had been forced to quit as Northern Ireland secretary in January 2001 following claims he had helped Srichand Hinduja, the controversial Indian businessman, secure a UK passport in return for sponsoring the Millennium Dome.
The Hammond report later found there had been no wrongdoing from all involved.
Despite this, Sir Tony was reluctant to bring Lord Mandelson back into the fold after he had already resigned once before in 1998 from his post as trade secretary after a scandal over an undeclared home loan from Geoffrey Robinson, a fellow Labour minister.
However, Lord Birt, who was serving as a senior policy adviser in No 10, wrote to the prime minister in April 2003 urging him to think again.
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