Lord Mandelson has insisted he is "not going anywhere" after an ally of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn suggested he should be thrown out of the party.
The arch-Blairite laughed off the call from veteran left-winger Michael Meacher, who accused him of plotting to "overthrow" Mr Corbyn.
The peer also exchanged a warm handshake with shadow chancellor John McDonnell when they bumped into each other at Labour's conference venue in Brighton.
The comments came after Mr Meacher, one of the small group of MPs who supported Mr Corbyn's leadership bid, used his personal blog to claim Lord Mandelson was "openly inciting insurrection".
"The Labour Party has a rule, introduced by (Tony) Blair himself, that anyone who brings the party into disrepute can be expelled," he wrote.
"Many would think that Mandelson, who no doubt was deeply involved in the machinations behind the new rule designed to get rid of inconvenient left-wing activists, has now put himself in a position to be hoisted on his own petard."
But accosted by journalists and asked about the criticisms, Lord Mandelson said he was "not going anywhere".
"Jeremy Corbyn has said that there is room for every single opinion, every viewpoint, in the party, and he wants everyone to contribute," he said.
"There has to be a modernising Labour Party representing a good strong alternative to the Tories.
"That is what I am absolutely determined to see happening in this party again."
The former business secretary said he had spoken to Tony Blair "a couple of times" since Mr Corbyn's landslide victory.
He said the ex-PM was in "reflective mood" and thinking about how Labour could "win again".
Reporters encouraged Mr McDonnell, who was touring conference stands nearby, to come and speak to Lord Mandelson.
The peer is something of a hate figure for the Left, having been a driving force behind reforms to the party in the 1980s and 1990s.
The two men shook hands, and Mr McDonnell insisted "everyone is welcome" when asked if he supported Lord Mandelson being ejected.
Pressed on whether that meant they were "great friends", Mr McDonnell said: "We have known each other over the years. We both worked together at the TUC."
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