LABOUR politician Clare Short, has launched a ferocious attack on her party leader's advisers warning that their tactics could lead Labour to election defeat.
In an interview in today's New Statesman magazine, she warned that Mr Blair's advisers were trying to turn him from a "fresh, young, principled and decent" person into "a macho man".
Dubbing them "the people of the dark", she wamed that they were obsessed with the media.
Although she was careful not to attack Mr Blair directly, Ms Short's words will no doubt be seen as a criticism of his style of leadership.
By contrast with Mr Blair, she stressed the "inclusive style of leadership" of the late Labour leader John Smith, whom she praised highly, insisting that the party could have won the last election under him.
"I think the obsession with the media and focus groups is making us look as if we want power at any price and that we don't stand for anything," Ms Short said.
"And the people who think Tony has got to look very strong are making him less attractive than he is. This is a very stupid thing to do.
"He came along as this fresh, young, principled and decent man and some people are trying to turn him into macho man, not seeming decent and principled.
"I know they are doing it because they think it's the way to win, but I think they're making the wrong judgment and they endanger our victory," she said.
On former leader John Smith, who died of a heart attack in May 1994, she said: "John had this wonderful quality. He knew himself very well, had a deep sense of himself. He was basically intellectually secure, so he liked strong voices around him.
"John was making the party feel more and more comfortable with itself. My own view is that he could have done that with the country. In the course of the leadership contest, after he died, all the candidates said they would continue with his inclusive style of leadership. I think we've lost it now.