EUROPEAN PRESIDENTIAL BETTING WITH LADBROKES

We've got a quick run-down of the odds for the upcoming presidential election of the first EU President. Things are starting to heat up and while no one has formally declared a candidacy and question marks still exist over what the actual specific role of the position will be, there are plenty of names being bandied about all over the place.The favourite for quite some time has been Tony Blair, but now people are starting to think that his high-profile and prominent background may make him ill-suited to the position. Ladbrokes is still listing Tony Blair as favourite for the EU Presidency at 2.75. Another top contender is Dutch Premier Jan Peter Balkenende who is trading at around 4.0. You'll find Jean-Claude Juncker at 6.0 while Wolfgang Shussel is the last contender under 10.0 with a listing of 9.0 for the EU presidency.Belgian leader Herman Van Rompuy is considered a popular longshot at 21.0.Finnish ex-premier Paavo Lipponen is considered to have a realistic shot at this one and his price of 11.0 should attract some attention. He's sitting alongside Felipe Gonzalez, Francois Fillon and Mary Robinson price-wise.Vaclav Havel is sitting at 51.0 with Chris Patten and Giuliano Amato. Bertie Ahern is at 34.0.Other notables include Angela Merkel and Gordon Brown at 101.0.