THE latest accounts for the Tony Blair Institute show that the consultancy run by the former prime minister saw its income surge by 49 per cent to $121 million last year.

The institute made most of this money by advising foreign governments, including repressive Arab kingdoms.

Blair has cashed in on his political influence working for other nations but clearly wishes he could be involved again with running a British government.

The institute’s accounts, filed at the start of October, cover the year up to December 2022. They show an income of $121m — about £99m.

I don’t know why the institute, based in London, does its accounts in US dollars, but I suppose it reflects Blair’s long-held belief in US hegemony.

The accounts say that in 2022 the institute was “operational in nearly 30 countries, with a total staff of 514, up from 337.”

According to the accounts, the great majority of its income — $110m — came from “government advisory,” which it says means “advising political leaders in countries worldwide.”

The institute gives the appearance of transparency, with a long list of “our donors and funding partners.” But when you read the report closely it makes clear the names on this list are just “examples” of clients, not the full list.

The accounts are keen to tell you that the institute is, for example, helping the government of Malawi with digitisation. But they certainly don’t tell the full story.

So its annual report has never admitted that the institute continued working for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, even after the Saudis made clear just how repressive they are by luring Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi to their consulate in Istanbul, murdering him and dismembering his body.

The newspapers got the institute to admit this Saudi work, which was semi-disguised in the accounts.

You can get a better guide for which nations the institute is making money from by looking at its recent job advertisements.

Blair’s institute advertised for staff in a number of African nations, including Ghana, Kenya, Sierra Leone and Ethiopia.

It has recruited directors in Singapore and the Philippines, and referred to its work on a “new large-scale project in Indonesia” — Blair is personally helping the Indonesian government’s plan to build a new capital city, called Nusantara, in Borneo, to replace Jakarta as the seat of government.

And most strikingly, I have seen several job advertisements for consultants in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. These advertisements note: “A core element of our advisory practice is our long-standing work in the Middle East.”

I have also seen an advertisement for a senior adviser on “global energy transition,” based in Manama, Bahrain.

At the Conservative Party conference, I also went to a fringe meeting and reception advertised as being held by Bahrain.

When I got there it turned out to be a joint meeting with the institute, chaired by one of Blair’s consultants and addressed by the ambassador of Bahrain.

It looks like Bahrain paid the institute to organise the meeting. Bahrain arrests dissidents and is accused of using torturing inmates to get them to confess to “terrorism” in death penalty cases.

This also strongly suggests Bahrain is one of the institute’s clients. The institute’s slides for the meeting were headlined “Understanding Regional Transformation and Strengthening Britain GCC Relations” (GCC here means the Gulf Co-operation Council, the alliance of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.)

There is a strong chance the institute is involved in “Bahrain 2030” — the economic “transformation plan” — as Blair was also involved in the parallel Saudi Arabian “Vision 2030,” a “wide-ranging programme of economic reform devised to boost tourism and reduce reliance on oil.”

The institute makes a smaller sum — $9.9m, or 8 per cent of its income, from “policy futures,” which is when it churns out think-tank-style political advice.

It gives a partial list of “donors” and “partners” supporting this work, including Asda, Lloyds Bank and a bunch of rich people’s foundations.

These include the Larry Ellison Foundation. Ellison is a tech billionaire, thanks to his Oracle corporation, who has entertained Blair on his yachts.

Ellison is a big-money Republican supporter in the US. He funded the presidential bid of Marco Rubio, one of the more right-wing Republicans who is backed by the “Tea Party” faction.

Ellison has not funded Donald Trump but did allow a Trump fundraiser to happen in his mansion while he was out of the house.

Most strikingly, using documents from a court case, the Washington Post reported that Ellison took part in a conference call in 2020 with Trump aides discussing strategies to challenge the legitimacy of the vote in Joe Biden’s victory over Trump.

Ellison, through his Oracle corporation and its subsidiary, health-tech firm Cerner, is heavily involved in government digital outsourcing — which may help to explain Blair’s obsession with GovTech policies.

Blair is the chair of the institute, but does not directly take a salary or other money from his firm — he uses it to build his influence and reputation, rather than his fortune.

The highest-paid director, likely chief executive Catherine Rimmer, earned £662,000, an annual wage increase of 31 per cent.

This year the institute expanded its political presence, holding dozens of meetings at both Labour and Tory Party conferences. Clear indication Blair wants to return to more direct influence in domestic politics.

But the institute’s political initiatives are rather lacklustre. It trades as the Institute for Global Change, but its conference meetings were rather more “stay the same.”

Blair’s “Future of Britain” project hasn’t really gripped even the centrist imagination.

However, if Labour is elected the Tony Blair Institute is likely to get very big behind-the-scenes influence guiding Labour’s corporate-friendly “reforms.”