The man who helped engineer the New Labour project told more than 600 business leaders and opinion formers what Labour needed to do to be re-elected.

Lord Mandelson, who was business secretary in the last Labour administration, said there were certain things that had to be aligned and perfect for the project to succeed.

"Any successful brand, whether in business or politics, needs the product, the service and the offer," he said at the Jewish Care Topland Group business lunch at Grosvenor House in Central London last week.

"In the case of politics, we have a product just as in business. In politics, it's the policies based on values. A party must have the product right. It must have the instincts of those making the product about who you're selling to, in our case the voters. And we have to have the presentation right. These things generally do have to be right and in perfect alignment."

Lord Mandelson also paid tribute to the fundraising skills of Jewish Care president Lord Levy, saying that the money he brought in "gave the party its freedom from the unions and enabled the Labour Party to become New Labour".

During the lunch, Jewish Care honoured 81-year-old Holocaust survivor Solly Irving with its "Unsung Hero" award 2010, which was presented by Lord Levy. Mr Irving, who was the only member of his family to survive, won the award in recognition of his commitment to educating the young about the horrors of the Holocaust.

The lunch raised £241,000 for Jewish Care's Kennedy Leigh home care services, which allows older people to live as independently as possible.