Aged 46, she told friends she believed she had "one more big job" in her career and regarded BP as "the best company in Britain".Ms Hunter told Mr Blair she wanted to leave Downing Street at the June general election. He persuaded her to stay on to help implement a shake-up of the machine at Number 10 and the Cabinet Office. She was promoted from special assistant to the Prime Minister to director of government relations in an attempt by Mr Blair to keep her on board.She tried to leave again in September, but Mr Blair urged her not to jump ship because of the terrorist attacks in the United States.Since then she has played a crucial role as a go-between with other foreign leaders as the Prime Minister worked to cement the international coalition. She accompanied him on his gruelling programme of overseas visits.Mr Blair was said to be "sad" to be losing the services of a senior lieutenant after 13 years in which she helped him move from an opposition MP to a second-term prime minister sitting on a huge majority.
At the same time, Ms Hunter moved from being a glorified secretary to a senior Downing Street role.The Prime Minister said in a statement: "Anji has made a fantastic contribution to Government and the Labour Party Our loss will be BP's gain. We wish her every success in her new job." One of his aides added: "She is unique – and irreplaceable."In a speech to his supporters after winning the Labour leadership in 1994, Mr Blair singled out Ms Hunter for praise for her work as his assistant in the previous six years. He recalled: "I met Anji when I was about 17, at a party where we both stayed overnight." He quipped: "It was my first defeat."Ms Hunter's no-nonsense style has upset some Labour figures but Mr Blair has always defended her. Civil servants were reluctant to find her a formal role at Number 10 after Labour won power in 1997, but she dug in and became a powerful "gatekeeper" who controlled access to her boss.
She was sometimes referred to as Mr Blair's "Lady Falkender" – a reference to the close relationship between Harold Wilson and his political secretary.She also played an important role in smoothing Mr Blair's sometimes strained relations with Gordon Brown, helped by her friendship with Sue Nye, the Chancellor's political secretary.Married with two children, Ms Hunter lives in Sussex and is regarded as the "voice of southern England" who tries to keep Mr Blair in touch with the world outside Westminster. She has cultivated links with newspapers such as the Daily Mail and Rupert Murdoch's empire, which includes The Sun.Her departure is a further change to the "inner circle" of trusted aides around Mr Blair. After a power struggle with Ms Hunter, Sally Morgan left her post as political secretary in June to become a minister at the Cabinet Office and was made a life peer. Mr Blair has twice lost the services of Peter Mandelson, another close ally, when he was forced to resign from the Cabinet.The move is also another sign of the close links between New Labour and big business.Lord Simon of Highbury, the former BP chairman, is an ex-minister who advises Mr Blair. Tim Allan, a former Blair press officer, left to join Sky Television, while Margaret McDonagh, Labour's former general secretary and a Blair ally, has joined Express Newspapers as general manager.Charles Secrett, director of the environmental group Friends of the Earth, issued a warning about Ms Hunter's plans to move to BP. He said: "I'm worried that Ms Hunter may bring the indifference to the environment, which is so prevalent in Number 10, to the heart of this major company which has at least tried to think about its responsibility for climate change and environment issues generally.". Prime Minister Tony Blair is holding talks at Downing Street with Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar, bringing to an end another week of hectic diplomacy.
