The Ghost hits cinemas

He may have left office three years ago, but Tony Blair is still at the forefront of many people's minds.

Not only is there an an election in the offing, the former Prime Minister has been used as the inspiration for a character in the cinematic thriller The Ghost.

The film, adapted from the novel by Robert Harris, follows ex-PM Adam Lang - played by Pierce Brosnan - who employs a ghostwriter - Ewan McGregor - to complete his memoirs.

Former Bond star Pierce wondered whetherdirector Roman Polanski wanted him to play Lang like the one-time Labour leader.

He said: "The first meeting I had with Roman in Paris, I said 'Am I doing Tony on this? Because Michael Sheen did it impeccably in The Queen'. He said 'no, no, no, you not playing Tony Blair.' So I was liberated from that right off the bat. However all the emblems lead to one man only and that is Tony."

The movie also features Sex And The City's Kim Cattrall and British actress Olivia Williams as Lang's wife.

The Ghost has mainly had the thumbs up from the critics who have said that, while it is not Polanski's finest hour, it does benefit from good direction, a tense screenplay and a strong performance from Ewan McGregor.