Book tells of Brown-Blair feuds

The book by Mr Blair's biographer Anthony Seldon names close Brown ally Ed Balls - now Schools Secretary - as a key driving force behind the reported clashes.

Serialised in the Mail on Sunday, it claims Mr Blair complained of being treated "like an abused and bullied wife" after one row with Mr Balls about when he would leave No 10.

And it alleges that Mr Balls egged Mr Brown on to foment rebellion against the PM following Labour's poor showing in the 2006 local elections.

After Mr Brown failed to trigger open revolt in a radio interview, Mr Balls supposedly told him that he had "bottled it" - something the Schools Secretary told the Mail on Sunday he "categorically denies".

Dr Seldon's book, Blair Unbound, draws on interviews with many Blair loyalists, including ex-Cabinet ministers Stephen Byers, Alan Milburn, Tessa Jowell, Patricia Hewitt, Lord Falconer, Charles Clarke and David Blunkett, as well as former aide Baroness Morgan.

By contrast, only a handful of Brown allies are named as sources, which will inevitably lead to speculation that it presents a partial view of events.

The timing of the serialisation is likely to frustrate Mr Brown, who is trying to haul Labour out of an opinion poll trough following the debacle of the snap election that never was.

A spokesman for Mr Balls said: "This is just invention and nonsense and littered with claims which are simply untrue."