If only Tony Blair had stuck to his ambition of being a rock star

„Within his new memoir, Peter Mandelson recalls an occasion when Tony Blair, then still Leader of the Opposition, was at a dinner party with Mick Jagger. Mandelson says that, after the dinner, 'Tony summoned up his courage and went up to Mick. Looking him straight in the eye, he said: "I just want to say how much you've always meant to me." I find it hard to read this without blushing. But which of us has not become either tongue-tied, starry- eyed or absurdly verbose when meeting someone extremely famous?

As a 19-year-old drama student, I found myself collaring the Queen at a friend's parents' party and telling her everything I knew about Bertolt Brecht's theory of alienation. The Queen put on a fixed smile, and kept taking one step back, attempting to edge away. But I was having none of it: I simply followed her as she backed away around the room, determined to finish my lecture. The poor woman must have spent a lifetime listening to embarrassing gobbledegook pouring from the mouths of strangers, and the same must be true for Mick Jagger. He [Blair] looked wistful, observed Mandelson, perhaps remembering his frustrated rock star ambitions from his student days. For a moment, I thought he might ask for an autograph.

Perhaps he should have. It's a sensible thing to do when you meet a celebrity. Asking for an autograph means that your brief meeting, which might otherwise be inconclusive, is given both purpose and - when the autograph is handed back - closure. It's a glorified receipt. How deep are Blair's frustrated rock star ambitions? At Oxford University, he was lead singer with Ugly Rumours. Contemporaries suggest he based his style entirely on Mick Jagger, rather in the manner of Stars In Their Eyes.”