The guest list at Chequers during Mr Blair's final months in office included radio disc jockeys, prime time game show presenters, sports stars and pop singers. Mr Brown, by contrast, has displayed a more high-minded attitude to entertaining since he received the keys to the Prime Minister's Buckinghamshire estate last year. His invitations have gone out to notable architects, writers, and captains of industry and commerce, the latest "Chequers list" released by the Government shows.
And while both men are fond of calling members of the journalistic elite to their weekend home, Mr Brown has been far more willing to open his doors to colleagues from the Government and Parliament than his predecessor was during his final months.
Tony Blair's dinner parties at Chequers became legendary in Westminster as he invited a string of household names to sit round his dinner table. They included the singer Charlotte Church and her partner, the Wales rugby union player Gavin Henson, and the television presenters Richard Madeley, Lorraine Kelly, Fiona Phillips and June Sarpong. The radio disc jockeys Chris Evans and Vernon Kay, and Kay's wife, Tess Daley, the presenter of Strictly Come Dancing, also dined at the Buckinghamshire retreat as well as the former England football manager Steve McClaren.
Mr Brown invited the television naturalist Sir David Attenborough, the designer and restaurateur Sir Terence Conran, the architects Zaha Hadid, Lord Foster and Lord Rogers and the playwright Sir Tom Stoppard.
Other guests included the surgeon Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub, the former head of the US Federal Reserve Sir Alan Greenspan, the best-selling historian Lady Antonia Fraser and Tony Hall, chief executive of the Royal Opera House. The editors of The Sun, The Mirror, the Daily Mail, The Guardian and The Independent also received invitations.
Mr Brown's guest lists are also peppered with wealthy business leaders. He has dined with the Tesco boss Sir Terry Leahy, the financier Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, the entrepreneur Sir James Dyson, and the multimillionaire private equity boss Damon Buffini.
Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat MP who first forced the Chequers guest list to be published three years ago, attacked Mr Brown for failing to release details of all his meetings. "Gone are the B-list celebs, the television stars and the pop singers. But there is still a lot of money there, a lot of people with substantial amounts of money," he said.
Also released yesterday in a flurry of announcements hours before MPs departed on their summer break were details of Mr Blair and Mr Brown's extensive travels around the world.
While Mr Blair ended a tour of the world during his final months in power with an audience with the Pope, the first date in Mr Brown's diary was the more mundane matter of discussing European affairs with the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel.
Mr Blair spent more than £700,000 on his farewell travels around the globe after announcing he was standing down as Prime Minister last year.
Gordon Brown spent £951,000 on flights during his first year in power.
As his days in office approached an end, Mr Blair notched up visits to 13 countries on three continents. The most expensive, at £319,100, was a four-day tour in May last year that took in Washington, Kuwait, Baghdad and Basra.
Mr Brown's travels since arriving in Downing Street have cost close to £1m, with £419,700 accounted for by visits to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Ironically given Mr Blair's reputation for spin, it was Gordon Brown who faced criticism yesterday for increasing the number of government special advisers working in Whitehall. Altogether, the number of spin doctors and other ministerial aides has risen to 73 from 68 last November, while the cost increased to £5.9m.
The shadow Pensions Secretary, Chris Grayling, said: "It looks as if Tony Blair's farewell tour was a huge vanity affair paid for by the taxpayer. Frankly, the money could have been spent in a better way. At least we have the comfort in knowing there won't need to be a farewell tour for Gordon Brown."
Dinner with Brown...
Lord Richard Atlenborough CBE
Lady Attenborough
Ian Austin MR
Rt. Hon. Ed Balls MP
Caroline Benn
Rt. Hon. Hilary Benn MP
James Benn
Jonathan Benn
Michael Benn
Sally Berm
Tracy Bews
Sir Victor Blank
Lady Blank
Rt. Hon. Hazel Blears MR
Lady Joan Branson
Sir Richard Branson
Charlie Brooks
Damon Buffini
Debbie Buffini
Rt. Hon. Andy Burnham MR
Camilla Bustani
Bruce Byron
Dr. Tanya Byron
Stephen Carter CBE
Sir William Castell
Lady Castell
Nancy Claire
Sir Terence Conran
Lady Conran
Rt. Hon. Yvette Cooper MP
Jamie Cooper-Hahn
Dan Corry
Richard Curtis CBE
Kathy Dacre
Paul Dacre
Rt. Hon. Alistair Darling MP
Maggie Darling
Lord Darzi
Lady Darzi
Gavyn Davies OBE
Jeanne Davies
Mervyn Davies
Clarede Lore
Sir Evelyn de Rothschild
Lady de Rothschild
Ed Denham
Rt. Hon. John Denham MP
Rose Denham
HRH the Duke of York
Lady Dyson
Sir James Dyson CBE
Howard Exton-Smith
Lady Foster
Lord Foster
Lady Antonia Fraser CBE
Emma Freud
Derek Gadd
Danyele Gamier
Dr. Jean Pierre Gamier
Anna Gorman
Jay Green
Stephen Green
Alan Greenspan (Hon. KBE)
Sabrinà Guinness
Zaha Hadid CBE
Cyn Hall
Tony Hall CBE
Mike Halsall
Martin Halusa
Lady Hamlyn
Lady Hampton
Sir Philip Hampton
Rev. James Harding
Rt. hon. Baroness Hayman
Martin Hayman
Tony Hayward
Mrs. Hayward
Stuart Hercock
Les Hinton
Chris Hohrl
Rt. Hon. John Hutton MP
Rt. Hon. Alan Johnson MP
LauraJohnson
Lord Jones
Kirsty Jones
Nick Jones
Pat Jones
Ella Joseph
Gavin Kelly
Rt. Hon. Ruth Kelly MP
Simon Kelner
Lady Kinnock
Lord Kinnock
Sir Richard Lambert
Lady Lambert
Sally Ann Lasson
Lady Leahy
Sir Terry Leahy
Kathy Lette
Lady Sue Littiemore
Lady Lyons
Sir Michael Lyons
Lindsay Mackie
Lord Malloch Brown
Lady Malloch Brown
Sir George Martin
Lady Martin
Elsa McAlonan
Heather McGregor
Rt. Hon. Don McKinnon
Murdoch McLennan
Cath Miles
Andrea Mitchell
Piers Morgan
Alison Myners
Paul Myners CBE
Sandy Nairne
Indra Nooyi
Sue Nye
Sir Gus O'Donnell
Lady O'Donnell
Hon. James Ogilvy
Julia Ogilvy
Aurelian O'Rourke
Lucy O'Rourke
Sir John Parker
Lady Parker
Lucy Parker
Julia Paton
Richard North Patterson
Alice Perkins CB
Rt. Hon. James Purnell MP
Kath Raymond
Dinah Roake
Geoffrey Robertson QC
Lady Rogers
Lord Rogers
Ruthie Rogers
Lady Rose
Sir John Rose
Sir Stuart Rose
Lady Rothermere
Lord Rothermere
Baroness Jan Royall
Alan Rusbridger
Lady Sainsbury
Lord Sainsbury
Arun Sarin
Rummi Sarin
Albert Scardino
Dame Marjorie Scardino
Angela E Smith MP
Rt. Hon. Jacqui Smith MP
Nigel Smith
Terry Smith
Sir Tom Stoppard
Rt. Hon. Jack Straw MP
John Studzinski
Sir Alan Sugar
Lady Sugar
Lisa Tickner
Lynda Till
Stewart Till CBE
Richard Timney
Baroness Vadera
Mrs. Marie-France van Heel
Rebekah Wade
Celia Walden
Lucy Walker
Richard Wallace
Kate Weinberg
Lady West
Lord West
Jasmine Whitbread
Bob Wigley
Sarah Wigley
Jill Wills
Michael Wills MP
Stewart Wood
Marienne Yacoub
Professor Yacoub
Baroness Young
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