4:58pm UK, Saturday July 24, 2004

Peter Mandelson has vowed not to let down Tony Blair after he was nominated as the UK's next European commissioner.

180 Peter Mandelson

Peter Mandelson

The Prime Minister ended months of speculation over the future of his friend, who has twice quit the cabinet amid controversy.  

Mr Mandelson insisted that Mr Blair does not reward people because they are "friends or cronies" but gives people jobs "on merit".  

He said he had "agonised" over taking up the post, but that another return to the cabinet had never been an option.  

"I know Tony Blair well enough to know that if he did not think I was the right person for the job, wild horses would not drag him into making that decision," he told The Guardian newspaper.  

"He does not reward people because they are friends or cronies or because they are right-wing or left-wing. He gives people jobs on merit. He has placed a lot of faith in me and I cannot let him down."  

Mandelson is expected to take up his new job on November 1, once the new commission has been approved by the European parliament.