PETER Mandelson yesterday revealed that he consulted Tony Blair, the former prime minister and a close confidant, before agreeing to rejoin the Cabinet.
He also insisted that any past disputes with Gordon Brown were behind him, saying they were both part of the "Labour family".
Mr Mandelson, who was a shock appointment as Secretary of State for Business on Friday, yesterday said the government
's priority would be tackling the tough economic circumstances facing the country.
He said the overall task would be to nurse the economy back to health. But when the time came to go to the polls, Mr Mandelson said, he would try to show the country what Labour had to offer.
"If I can play my part in that and make a contribution, that's what I want to do and that's what I will do," he said.
However, when asked whether he had been brought back to run an election campaign, he said: "No I'm not. Somebody else is going to be affirmed in that role, somebody I know and trust and admire."
He added: "We are all part of the same team now and that's what the party wants, it's what the country needs.
"So when it comes to the point that we have to shift our focus from what we are absolutely going to concentrate on in the meantime, which is the economic crisis facing the country, and in due course when we come to fighting an election, yes I will be there supporting the Labour team."
Mr Mandelson, who was twice forced to resign from the Cabinet, said he had spoken to Mr Blair after being "surprised" to be offered his new job. But the former prime minister told him the decision to take up the post was a "no-brainer".
On being asked to return, Mr Mandelson said: "I was very surprised, but in the end I thought it was the only thing I could and should do."
Asked whether it meant he and the Prime Minister had put aside their past differences, he said: "I am, and always have been, a member of the Labour family. And when times get tough, families pull together and that's what we are doing."
Pointing out he had been away from Westminster for four years, Mr Mandelson added: "People say a week is a long time in politics. Well, four years is a lifetime and during that time you get a different view.
"Gordon Brown has changed, he has become Prime Minister and, in my view, is a very, very steady hand on the tiller.
"I think he and the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, have demonstrated strength and very real qualities during this crisis and are going to continue to do so, and I want to join their team."
Mr Mandelson will have to be made a peer to take up his role, but said deciding where to be lord of had not been a priority.
He was also asked about claims he had "dripped pure poison" about Mr Brown into the ear of a leading Tory during a conversation on the economy.
Mr Mandelson said the story had come from a conversation with shadow chancellor George Osborne. He said he did not think Mr Osborne was responsible for the story, but that the Conservatives' "dirty tricks department" had found it too tempting to resist spreading.
"There was no poison being dripped anywhere either by him or by me," he added.
Meanwhile, the final details of Mr Brown's Cabinet reshuffle were confirmed last night.
The country's first Muslim government minister, Shahid Malik, was named as one of several ministers in the Justice Department in a shuffle of lower government ranks, while Phil Woolas was named immigration minister.
However, there was no job for Jon Cruddas, a prominent left-winger often critical of Brown's leadership.
