Tony Blair was bidding for contracts with the European Union for his “institute for global change” as he publicly campaigned to overturn Brexit, The Telegraph can disclose.

Documents obtained by this newspaper show that the former prime ­minister held talks with officials about striking a funding agreement between the European Commission and the not-for-profit Tony Blair Institute (TBI).

The officials included Ana Gallo-Alvarez, who was previously seconded to Mr Blair’s Middle East envoy office as deputy head of mission.

She chaired a meeting between Mr Blair’s staff and Commission officials last year after Mr Blair held talks with her then boss, ­Neven Mimica, an EU commissioner.

On Saturday a TBI spokesman insisted that the institute was “perfectly entitled to seek EU funding for work relevant to EU funding streams”, adding: “As a matter of fact we have not yet ­submitted a formal application so no funding has been received.”