* Former UK finance minister sees little hope of G20 success
* Sense of unity of April 2009 London meeting gone
* Worries about risks of protectionism that could hit growth
* French G20 leadership in New Year good, not enough alone
By Peter Apps, Political Risk Correspondent
LONDON, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Former British finance minister Alistair Darling says it took a sense of alarm bordering on panic and the leadership of several figures to produce success at last year's London G20 meeting -- and he sees little evidence of enough of either this weekend in Seoul.
Together with then-Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Darling was one of the main figures at the London meeting of the Group of 20 nations which was credited with helping to restore confidence on global financial markets.
In April 2009, G20 leaders agreed a $1.1 trillion package to help pull the global economy out of its deep slump. But Darling says national leaders lost their sense of purpose after the meeting fixed their attention again on domestic priorities and allowed divisions between them to grow.
"I think people left the table too early," Darling told Reuters in an interview in his parliamentary office overlooking the River Thames. "It would be a pity if we had to wait for another calamity or near calamity to get everyone sitting properly around the table again."
Divisions have widened before this weekend's meeting of G20 leaders in South Korea primarily over currency valuations. The United States is accusing China of preventing its yuan currency from appreciating, and Beijing is accusing Washington of weakening the dollar through the quantitative easing policy.
"What makes these summits work is that you really need two or three people to do the heavy lifting," Darling said. "If Gordon (Brown) had not done what he did in pushing people together in the same room it wouldn't have happened. If you don't have the (U.S.) president, it's not going to work.
"The Chinese leadership has to be prepared to make it work. That's when domestic politics come in. If you look at this coming weekend, there's no sense of common purpose."
What helped during the financial crisis of 2008-9 was alarm across all major economies and the fear they would sink or swim together, he said. Divisions emerged when the immediate crisis was seen to have passed.
LOOKING BEYOND BACKYARD
Analysts say China is worried that job creation will be hit at home if it allows the yuan to rise, raising the risk of unrest. In the United States, President Barack Obama's Democratic party was hammered in mid-term elections last week and he faces a punishing 2012 presidential race.
Darling, who lost office with Brown in May's British general election and has now stepped back from frontbench politics, said leaders had to move beyond simply focusing on what their domestic constituencies wanted to hear.
"People are focused on what happens when they go back to their own countries," he said, adding that they needed "to focus on the fact that yes, there is a bigger prize here".
Consequences of sustained disagreement could be brutal, he said, ultimately damaging everyone. "It is very tempting for governments to say it is the fault of someone outside and put up more barriers and I think that would be a disaster."
Darling said he was already sceptical about the new British coalition government's economic growth targets due to its public sector spending cuts, but a trade war would mean there was not "a cat's chance in hell" they could be met.
France has signalled it hopes to put new energy behind a currency deal when it takes over G20 presidency next year. Like Brown and Darling in 2008, French President Nicolas Sarkozy is likely to hope for domestic political gain if he is seen to seal a deal before a tough re-election battle in 2012.
"I don't necessarily care what it takes to get someone to rally the troops," said Darling. "Sarkozy has said he wants to get agreement and that is good. But it takes more than just one person to get a deal."