London - Although he bowed out of British politics almost a year ago, former Prime Minister Tony Blair is still considered the most influential public figure in Britain, according to a poll published Thursday.

A survey among 1,000 business leaders aimed at finding Britain's "most powerful people" gave Blair 20 per cent of the vote, followed closely at 19 per cent for Gordon Brown, the current prime minister.

Blair, who is now a special envoy to the Middle East Quartet, announced his resignation after 10 years as prime minister in May 2007, handing over to Brown at the end of June.

David Cameron, the Conservative leader, takes fifth place on the list, followed by entrepreneur Richard Branson and media mogul Rupert Murdoch.

Roman Abramovich, the Russian billionaire and owner of Chelsea football club, is ranked at 10th place on the list of the powerful.

Queen Elizabeth II was named the most influential woman, with over a third of the votes, followed by former prime minister Margaret Thatcher on 18 per cent and JK Rowling, the Harry Potter author, in third place with 11 per cent of votes cast.

The research was conducted by the Leaders in London International Leadership Summit.

Spokeswoman Collette Leong-Son said it was surprising to find that almost all of the political figures who featured highly, like Tony Blair and Margaret Thatcher, were now retired from the roles they were known for.

"People do seem to get rose-tinted glasses after a while and perhaps Tony Blair is benefiting from that," she said. (dpa)