Tony Blair and his son Euan have today been linked to the new political party said to have raised £50million to 'break the Westminster mould'.

Simon Franks, the millionaire founder of LoveFilm, is believed to have spent a year secretly working on a new 'centrist' movement for Britain.

Tony Blair's son Euan is rumoured to be on the board of Project One and sources claimed his father had been 'helpful' in finding potential donors.

Tony Blair (pictured yesterday) and his son Euan (right) have been linked to the new centrist political party being planned by a former Labour donor

Simon Franks, pictured at the 2005 Venice Film Festival with George Clooney and film producer Shebnem Askin, is said to have been working on a new 'centrist' political party for a year

One person also asked to join Project One told the Guardian last night that he had been told Euan Blair was involved.

Euan, 34, is a property developer and also runs a tech startup for apprentices, called WhiteHat.

But others have said that people at Project One Movement had 'overstated' involvement by the Blairs and Tony has denied claims he has backed the project.

His spokesman said last night: 'Mr Blair has no involvement with this. Period'.

Yesterday Mr Blair hiumself said it was 'completely wrong' to suggest the Tony Blair Institute For Global Change was preparing the infrastructure for a new political party, adding it was putting together a policy platform.

He said: 'It's not a manifesto because it's not for a political party.'

His institute was 'trying to create the sort of centrist policies that I think can rekindle optimism about the future, since I think that these lurches to the right and to the left are basically the politics of pessimism'.

He said: 'If you leave this ground, if there are people who feel unrepresented in politics, especially when those people are people of energy and determination and commitment, at some point in time and this is what the two main parties should think about, at some point in time they are going to find an outlet for their energy.

'All I am saying is I'm not organising and I'm not the right person to do that.'

He said starting a new political party was 'incredibly difficult' but the 'battle is not over', adding the leadership of a strong progressive centre 'is just not there, it's lacking'.

He added: 'The result of it is you have right-wing politics going into anti-immigration nationalism, left-wing politics going into anti-business old form of statism and neither are the answer to the problems of the future.'

Mr Blair said he was still in the Labour Party, adding: 'Yes, I'm going to stay in it. I've been in the Labour Party for over 40 years and I'm not going to give up on it.'

Former investment banker Simon Franks, 46, has gone to ground since the £50million political plan emerged and he was not at his £3.5million London mansion.

But former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Nick Clegg, who along with Tony Blair believes Brexit can still be stopped, has refused to rule out joining the new party himself.

He admitted it was now 'highly likely' a new centrist party could break off to fill a 'gaping hole' in politics.

And he said disaffected Tories, Labour supporters and Lib Dems should be 'open to doing what they think is right and consistent with their values' rather than stick to 'tribalism'.

Nick Clegg, who lost his seat in 2017 but is still campaigning to stop Brexit, has not ruled out joining a new party and urged fellow liberals to put aside tribal links to their parties

He said: 'I am relatively un-tribal. But I personally have always felt that liberal values are more important than which particular vehicle is carrying them at any particular time.'

'I think other people - whether it's liberals or liberal Conservatives should always be open to doing what they think is right and consistent with their values rather than being high bound by whatever political tribe they are in.'

Simon Franks is said to be frustrated with political division in light of the Brexit vote and the lurch left of the Labour party

Sir Nick denied claims he is being lined up as a possible leader.

Other mooted as a figurehead have included David Miliband.

His brother Ed is close to Mr Franks, who acted as his business adviser when he was Labour leader.

Simon Franks was not at home to discuss plans for a new centrist political party.

He is yet to give any interviews and has not used social media to discuss the plans.

At their £3.8million mansion in Hampstead, north London, his wife Carolyn refused to talk about her husband's new venture.

She said: 'Simon is not here, I know nothing about it and I am not prepared to comment sorry.'

Mr Franks and his wife live in a huge property behind black gates. The mansion is set back from the road by a long driveway.

The former banker, who worked for JP Morgan and Paribas, quit and set up the Redbus film distribution business in his bedroom.

In 2005 he sold the company, which distributed Bend it Like Beckham, to US distributor Lions Gate for £19.9million.

He also helped set up a DVD rental company called Video Island, which would later become LoveFilm. This would then be sold on to Amazon for £200million before being shut down last year.

Describing his journey Mr Franks said previously: 'I got a job in banking which was fascinating and terrible and I saw lots of great people get trapped in the system of just being addicted to the money.

'When David Bowie ran out of money and securitised his music rights I thought wow what a great idea, I'm going to do that for film rights'.

Mr Franks was not at his North London home and is yet to speak out about the 'centrist' party claims in the Observer

Up to £50million has been pumped into the project with a former Labour benefactor at the helm hoping to 'break the Westminster mould'.

He has had full-time staff on the project for about year after starting initial discussion in 2016.

His company - Project One Movement for the UK - is said to be a probable vehicle for the scheme.

But there is reportedly consensus that candidates will run in the 2022 General Election if the movement decides the current system is defunct.

The identities of those involved remain secret, other than Franks, but a source said they are ready to challenge 'our current crop or professional politicians'.

But another person familiar with the scheme said: 'They have the resources, but I'm not sure they have a viable plan.'

Others named online as possible backers include Richard Reed, founder of Innocent Smoothies.

Mr Reed, who was one of three Cambridge University graduates who founded Innocent at the age of 26 in 1999 before selling it to Coca-Cola for £320million, donated to the Lib Dems in 2015. He is also a friend of Nick Clegg's.

The movement is aiming to take back the centre ground as Jeremy Corbyn, pictured, takes the party in a left-wing direction and Theresa May, right, leads the Tory government

David Owen (pictured) and the Social Democratic Party of the 1980s took just 23 seats despite winning 2.8million votes in the 1983 General Election

Politicians who have made successful centrist snatches include French president Emmanuel Macron, whose En Marche! movement delivered a majority in the national assembly last year.

Critics of Franks' project point to the Social Democratic Party of the 1980s, when four senior Labour politicians formed a liberal alliance that took only 23 seats despite netting 7.8million votes in 1983's General Election.

However the plans for a centrist challenger party were dismissed by the shadow chancellor and two of his frontbench colleagues.

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell tweeted: 'That's a novel idea. A party of the rich, by the rich, for the rich. A party for the few not the many.'

Shadow health and social care secretary Jonathan Ashworth said: 'For goodness sake, what a daft waste of time. Anyone putting money into this nonsense would be better off investing in our campaign to restore and rebuild our NHS.'

Jon Trickett, the shadow Cabinet Office minister, tweeted: 'A new political party with £50m in the kitty, no members, no rule book, no ideology. Perhaps with support from sections of the British Establishment. A plaything for the rich?

'Let's focus on the task in hand: building a social movement which will change our country for good.'

Their sentiments were echoed by Colne Valley MP Thelma Walker, who said it was 'just what our country doesn't need', while Manchester Central MP Lucy Powell tweeted: 'Sounds like a bad idea, over-hyped.'