Tony Blair rejected Gordon Brown's NEC application

Mr Brown on Thursday admitted he asked Mr Blair to grant him membership of Labour's ruling body, only to be turned down.

Amid speculation that relations between the two men have reached a new low, former cabinet minister Jack Cunningham has urged them to be united.

We can't afford to be fiddling around with minor issues here Jack Cunningham Former minister

Thursday's dinner was apparently planned weeks ago, and Downing Street dismissed suggestions that it was on a par with the infamous meeting at the Granita restaurant in Islington in 1994.

It was at that dinner that Mr Brown agreed not to run against Mr Blair in the leadership contest which followed John Smith's death.

On Friday, Downing Street refused to comment on the dinner, or even confirm its venue.

But a Number 10 spokeswoman said the relationship between Mr Blair and his chancellor was "strong".

Mandelson role?

There have been suggestions that Mr Brown particularly wanted to be on the NEC because he was worried that former cabinet minister Peter Mandelson's influence over election planning was on the rise.

Asked about Mr Mandelson's role, Mr Blair's spokeswoman said: "As far as I'm concerned he's a backbench MP and the PM occasionally speaks to him."

She said she did not know if Mr Mandelson attended the Monday morning planning meeting at Downing Street.

I felt it would be better running the general election campaign from being a member of the National Executive Committee Gordon Brown

On Friday, former cabinet "enforcer", Mr Cunningham said there was no question of anyone writing off Mr Brown.

He said it was "curious" because the NEC was not now important in the party's election planning.

"The Labour Party and the government should bear in mind that with a new Tory leader and apparently new unity in the Conservative Party we face a very different set of circumstances to those we were looking at just a few days ago," he said.

"We can't afford to be fiddling around with minor issues here. We have got to make sure the Labour Party and Labour government is unified."

'Use Brown properly'

But former minister Barbara Roche said Mr Brown's skills needed to be used "to full effect," including being on the NEC.

"He ran the elections in 1997 and 2001, clearly to great effect and it seems strange and petty that he is now being left out.

"Gordon has a breadth of appeal that extends from the Labour Party through Middle England to the City and he should be used to full effect."

The prime minister is able to appoint three MPs to the committee and has selected Hazel Blears, Douglas Alexander and party chairman Ian McCartney.

'Great strength'

The chancellor said on Thursday: "I ran the Labour Party general election campaign in 1997 and I was a member of the National Executive Committee at the time. I also ran it in 2001 and wasn't.

"I felt it would be better running the general election campaign from being a member of the National Executive Committee, but I have to say it is a decision not for me - it's a decision for the prime minister."