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Yesterday EU leaders met in Brussels ahead of the President Election decision. The front runners had been the Dutch Prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende, Belgian Prime minister Herman Van Rompuy, and our very own Tony Blair at outsider odds of 5/1. However late last night both Tony Blair and Jan Peter Balkenende ruled themselves out of the running late on leaving the Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy as favorite, who as expected succeeded in becoming the EU’s first President. With Tony Blair dropping out, his replacement Baroness Ashton of the labour party secured the position as the EU’s highest representative on foreign affairs and security. Gordon Brown said that the move gave Britain ‘a powerful voice in Europe’ and the Baroness herself said she was ‘slightly surprised…. but deeply privileged’.