FIRST Minister Alex Salmond wants Tony Blair to be blocked from becoming the first president of the European Union.The SNP leader says the former prime minister should be "disqualified" from the post because of his staunch support for the Iraq war.

He also said he hoped Scotland would become independent as quickly as possible so he could veto Blair's candidacy himself.

The post of EU president is likely to be created as a result of the Lisbon treaty being agreed by the union's member states. Blair, who stood down as prime minister last year, has been touted as a potential candidate by allies and is known to have the support of French president Nicolas Sarkozy.

However, the former Labour leader is not thought to have the backing of German Chancellor Angela Merkel - and the first minister made it clear he will have no support from Edinburgh.

Salmond said: "I'm hoping Scotland will proceed to independence quick enough to have a vote so that we can vote against him. I think Tony Blair would be a deeply controversial figure to be EU president."

He added: "I think he's disqualified his candidacy because of one word, and that word is Iraq."

On the possibility of Blair being stopped, he said: "I have been looking at this question quite closely. It hasn't been done before, so we don't actually know. As far as I can tell, everyone shuts themselves in a room, and a consensus candidate is then meant to emerge. It's a bit like the election of a pope."

He added: "I was told that no-one who wants to be president should allow their candidature to be pre-announced. I thought that was excellent news since the French president had sort of suggested Blair's candidacy. If that disqualifies him then that's excellent."

An aide to Salmond went further, saying: "He hopes Blair is blocked by another member state of the EU."

Blair and Salmond are known to loathe each other after clashing regularly at Prime Minister's Question Time. Blair was thought to have been incensed by the SNP's stance on the "cash for peerages" affair, while Salmond dislikes Blair because of the Iraq war.

A Labour spokesperson said: "This is typical of Alex Salmond's narrow-minded approach."

Meanwhile, Salmond used a briefing with Sunday newspapers last week to outline plans for a US-style overhaul of the way Scotland is governed. The new approach will be based on the Virginia model, focusing on outcomes such as the way that the economy and health service is performing.

"For the next three years you haven't seen anything yet in terms of transforming Scotland," Salmond said.

"We're prepared to measure ourselves against the best, not against the mediocre. It's a whole different relationship in the way that government has been operating in Scotland."

As the nationalists celebrated their first year in power, they also hit their highest ever poll rating.

The TNS/System Three poll shows a 14% lead for the SNP over Labour in Scotland, with a record high of 45%.