History of Tony Blair - GOV.UK GOV.UK Tony Blair Labour 1997 to 2007 Born 6 May 1953, Edinburgh, Scotland Dates in office Labour Major acts Civil Partnership Act 2004: allowed legal recognition of civil partnership relationship between two people of the same sex. Interesting facts Tony Blair initiated reforms in the House of Commons, modernising the format of Prime Minister's Question Time. Tony Blair, the longest serving Labour Prime Minister, oversaw the Northern Irish peace process, public sector reform and the response to the 9/11 and 7/7 terrorist attacks. Tony Blair was born in 1953 in Edinburgh, Scotland. After taking a gap year he attended the University of Oxford and studied Law; after graduating he became a barrister. He joined the Labour Party in 1975 and, in 1983, successfully fought for the safe seat of Sedgefield. Gordon Brown was also elected in 1983 and they became firm allies. Tony Blair assumed several Shadow Cabinet roles before being made Shadow Home Secretary in 1992.

In 1994, his and Gordon Brown’s friendship was permanently changed when the Labour leader, John Smith, died suddenly. Tony Blair won the following leadership contest overwhelmingly, having made an agreement with Gordon Brown that, if he didn’t stand, he would become a powerful chancellor should Labour win the next election. Tony Blair was seen as a new kind of politician with enormous charisma, arguably the finest opposition leader of modern times – even succeeding in reforming ‘Clause IV’ of the Labour constitution. It was of little surprise when Labour won the 1997 general election by a landslide majority of 179. Succeeding John Major to the role, he officially became Prime Minister on 2 May 1997. Important constitutional changes happened quickly, with Scottish and Welsh devolution, reform to the House of Lords, the Human Rights Act and a Freedom of Information Act. One of his biggest achievements came in 1998 when the Northern Irish peace process really made progress with the Good Friday Agreement. On foreign affairs, he became increasingly convinced of Britain’s need to become more involved, joining the American bombing of Iraq in 1998.

A landmark came in 1999 when he risked much to protect the Kosovars, his idea of ‘liberal interventionism’ explained in his ‘Chicago’ speech on ‘The Doctrine of the International Community’. Limited military involvement in Sierra Leone in 2000 reinforced the democratically elected government. Thanks to Tony Blair’s leadership, a healthy economy and a poor showing by the Conservative Party, Labour won the 2001 general election with another landslide, with 167 seats. His priority for the second term was to increase the pace of public sector reform, which took shape in the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit, bills on Foundation Hospitals, Academy Schools and university tuition fees, and the increasing ‘choice agenda’. He also intended to call a referendum over Britain adopting the Euro, but events prevented this. The 9/11 terrorist attacks became defining moments for Tony Blair and his legacy. He allied with the USA and President Bush over the need to confront militant Islamism, first in Afghanistan in 2001 and then, much more controversially, in 2003 with the invasion of Iraq.

The case for war in the UK had been built around the widespread belief that Saddam harboured weapons of mass destruction (WMD), which were not subsequently found. This, together with criticism over use of the machinery of government and doubts over the legality of the UK’s involvement, led the previously popular Tony Blair to become a divisive figure. Despite this, he led Labour to a third general election victory in 2005, with a much smaller but still significant majority of 66. The 7/7 London explosions by British-born Muslim suicide bombers led Blair to try to tighten civil liberties, another cause of public division. In 2006, the Israel-Lebanon war saw a very large Labour rebellion against Tony Blair over his reluctance to criticise Israel and his continued support for Bush. He resigned as Prime Minister on 27 June 2007. Tony Blair - IMDb IMDb View rank on IMDbPro » Tony Blair (I) Tony Blair was born on May 6, 1953 in Edinburgh, Lothian, Scotland as Anthony Charles Lynton Blair. He has been married to Cherie Blair since March 29, 1980. They have four children.

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Publicity Listings: 2 Biographical Movies | 3 Print Biographies | 13 Portrayals | 3 Interviews | 80 Articles | 3 Pictorials | 11 Magazine Cover Photos | See more » Official Sites: Prime Minister Tony Blair | Rt. Hon. Tony Blair | Tony Blair MP Height: Did You Know? Personal Quote: The strain of, frankly, anti-American feeling in parts of European politics is madness when set against the long-term interests of the world we believe in. The reality is that none of the problems that press in on us can be resolved or even contemplated without them. See more » Trivia: He is a fan of the rock group Dire Straits . See more » Nickname: Tony Blair | prime minister of United Kingdom | Britannica.com prime minister of United Kingdom Written By: Alternative Title: Anthony Charles Lynton Blair Tony Blair Prime minister of United Kingdom Also known as David Miliband Tony Blair, in full Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born May 6, 1953, Edinburgh , Scotland ), British Labour Party leader who served as prime minister of the United Kingdom (1997–2007).

He was the youngest prime minister since 1812 and the longest-serving Labour prime minister, and his 10-year tenure as prime minister was the second longest continuous period (after Margaret Thatcher ’s) in more than 150 years. Tony Blair. © Crown copyright Early life and start in politics The son of a barrister, Blair attended Fettes College in Edinburgh (a school often viewed as ‘‘Scotland’s Eton ’’) and St. John’s College of the University of Oxford , where he combined the study of law with interest in religious ideas and popular music. But he displayed little enthusiasm for politics until he met his future wife, Cherie Booth . He graduated from Oxford in 1975 and was called to the bar the following year. While specializing in employment and commercial law, he became increasingly involved in Labour Party politics and in 1983 was elected to the House of Commons to the safe Labour parliamentary seat of Sedgefield, a tight-knit former mining district in northeastern England.

His entry into politics coincided with a long political ascendancy of the Conservative Party (from 1979) and Labour’s loss of four consecutive general elections (from 1979 through 1992). Entering Labour’s shadow cabinet in 1988, Blair became the most outspoken of those party leaders calling for Labour to move to the political centre and deemphasize its traditional advocacy of state control and public ownership of certain sectors of the economy. In 1992 John Smith was elected Labour leader, and he appointed Blair shadow home secretary. When Smith died suddenly in May 1994, Blair seized the opportunity, and in July he was elected party leader with 57 percent support. His election came as something of a surprise because many believed the post would go to Gordon Brown , the shadow chancellor of the Exchequer, who had partnered with Blair in an attempt to move Labour to the political centre; however, Blair’s stock within the party had risen, and Brown had reluctantly agreed to step aside, though not before the two had come to an understanding that Blair would back Brown as his eventual successor. By mid-1995 Blair had revamped the Labour Party’s platform.

He abandoned the party’s stated commitment to the nationalization of the economy (by waging a successful battle to have the party modify its constitution’s Clause IV, which committed the party to “the common ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange”), reduced links with trade unions, and obtained unprecedented commitments to free enterprise, anti-inflationary policies, aggressive crime prevention, and support for Britain’s integration into the European Union . Blair summed up his reforms—often opposed by members of his own party—by describing the party as New Labour. Under his leadership, the Labour Party heavily defeated the Conservatives in nationwide municipal elections held in May 1995 and won a landslide victory over the Conservatives in the general election of May 1997, having waged a campaign that centred on the promise that “things can only get better.” Tony Blair and his wife, Cherie Booth, campaigning in April 1997. Sean Dempsey/AP Ringling Bros. Folds Its Tent First term Blair enjoyed a 179-seat majority in the House of Commons—the biggest parliamentary majority in the history of the Labour Party and the largest majority of any party since 1935.

Inspired by sociologist Anthony Giddens , he described his philosophy of government as the “Third Way.” Blair claimed that his policies were designed to enable social democracy to respond to the challenges of the worldwide market economy and to equip citizens to cope with what Giddens called “the major revolutions of our time,” including globalization . Perhaps the most coherent view about Blair’s search for the Third Way was that it was an endeavour to discover a form of progressive politics distinguishing itself from the conservatism of both left and right. Blair frequently looked for advice from businessmen who had come to prominence earlier, under the Conservative prime minister Thatcher. Private firms were given an important role in financing state infrastructure projects, despite widespread criticism that this financing was on terms often disadvantageous to the taxpayer. British Culture and Politics Blair gave control of the economic agenda to Gordon Brown , his chancellor of the Exchequer and eventual successor. The Blair government’s first major initiative—and perhaps its boldest—granted the Bank of England the power to determine interest rates without government consultation, a policy that had not appeared in the party’s platform.

The government also immediately signed the Maastricht Treaty ’s Social Chapter and turned its attention to brokering a peace agreement between republicans and unionists in Northern Ireland . Blair initiated reforms in the House of Commons, modernizing the format of “Prime Minister’s Question Time,” during which the prime minister answers questions from members of Parliament . During his first year in office, he organized referenda that created devolved assemblies in Scotland and Wales and developed a joint committee to coordinate constitutional and other policies with the opposition Liberal Democrats . Tony Blair (left) viewing a model of the Millennium Dome, 1998. Sean Dempsey—PA Photos/Landov Editor Picks: Exploring 10 Types of Basketball Movies Blair also gave important powers to unelected advisers, notably media consultant Alistair Campbell. The marketing image they adopted, known as “Cool Britannia,” suggested that Britain was a dynamic and successful country that had reinvented itself after years of decline and internal division. New Labour eagerly sought the approval of the mass-circulation press, particularly conservative tabloids such as The Sun, by embracing celebrity culture as well as respect for traditions, including the monarchy.

In May 1998 Blair led a successful referendum campaign to create a new assembly for London and to establish the city’s first directly elected mayor. That year Blair also helped to negotiate the Good Friday Agreement (Belfast Agreement), which was ratified overwhelmingly in both Ireland and Northern Ireland and which created an elected devolved power-sharing assembly in Northern Ireland for the first time since 1972. Blair also eliminated all but 92 of the hereditary members of the House of Lords as the prelude to more-extensive reforms of that chamber. The population began to grow skeptical of Blair as a new election approached, as it became clear that his government remained highly centralized and that he had no plans for overdue reforms in the public services. Opinion polls found that there was public concern regarding financial misbehaviour in government, manipulation of the media, the granting of honours to individuals who contributed to Labour Party funds, nepotism, and other actions that put the interests of business before ordinary citizens.

Second term Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Pinterest Facing a deeply unpopular opposition, however, Blair was easily reelected in May 2001 to a 167-seat majority in the House of Commons—the largest-ever second-term majority in British electoral history, though voter turnout was the lowest since 1918. His second term was dominated by international affairs. In the late 1990s he had won praise by mounting peacekeeping operations in the Serbian province of Kosovo and in Sierra Leone . After the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001, Britain played a key role in forming an international coalition that succeeded in driving the Taliban from power in Afghanistan, which had been allowed to become a safe haven for Islamic militants such as Osama bin Laden , the mastermind of the attacks. Blair enjoyed a good relationship with U.S. Pres. George W.

Bush and allied the United Kingdom with the United States in a global “war against terrorism .” In early 2003, following passage by the United Nations Security Council of a resolution mandating the return of weapons inspectors to Iraq, Blair and Bush tried without success to persuade other Security Council members that continued weapons inspections would not succeed in uncovering any weapons of mass destruction held by the Iraqi government of Ṣaddām Ḥussein . Tony Blair, 2005. © Crown copyright/Andy Paradise Despite deep divisions within the Labour Party—several ministers resigned and 139 Labour members of Parliament voted in favour of a motion opposing the government’s policy—and strong public opposition to a war with Iraq, Blair, with Bush, led a coalition of military forces in an attack on Iraq in March 2003. Blair’s enthusiastic support for the action damaged his reputation as a global statesman, and he fell out with key European allies. When military inspectors failed to uncover weapons of mass destruction , the Blair government was accused of distorting (“sexing up”) intelligence on which it had based its claim that Iraq was an imminent threat.

In October 2004 Blair announced that he would seek a third term as prime minister but would not stand for a fourth term. (From left) Portuguese Prime Minister José Manuel Durão Barroso, British Prime … SSGT Michelle Michaud, USAF/U.S. Department Of Defense Third term Opium Wars Despite lingering public dissatisfaction with Blair’s policy in Iraq, Blair led the Labour Party to its third successive general election victory in May 2005, albeit with a sharply reduced majority. Simmering revolt in the Labour Party over both Iraq and Blair’s rejection of core Labour policies led him to promise that he would resign before the next election. Blair’s popularity, with both the general public and the Labour members of Parliament, generally declined after the election. Many people in Britain felt that the country was in the grip of a serious malaise . Social cohesion seemed to be collapsing in much of urban Britain, as shown by a steep rise in violent crime and open drug dealing. Public officials in the police, civil service, and education sectors seemed to be unable to grapple effectively with the social crisis as they struggled to meet bureaucratic targets.

After Islamic extremists exploded bombs in London on July 7, 2005, killing 54 people, Blair began to emphasize the need for a common public culture, and former multicultural policies that encouraged ethnic groups to separate into different communities were repudiated . Tony Blair addressing the media, as leaders attending the G-8 summit look on, in Gleneagles, Scot., … Eric Draper/The White House Blair’s government suffered its first defeat in the House of Commons in November 2005, when 49 Labour members of Parliament joined the opposition in voting against antiterrorist laws that would have extended the length of time suspects could be held without charge. Subsequently, many Labour members of Parliament called for Blair to announce a date for his departure as prime minister well before the next general election; following a series of resignations by junior ministers, Blair declared in September 2006 that he would stand down as prime minister within a year.

On May 10, 2007—one week after Labour was defeated by the Scottish National Party in elections to the Scottish Parliament and suffered major defeats in English local elections as well and two days after devolved power was returned from London to a power-sharing government in Northern Ireland—Blair announced that he would officially tender his resignation as prime minister on June 27, 2007. Blair subsequently was succeeded as leader of the Labour Party and as prime minister by his long-serving chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown. British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown arriving at the … AP Assessment Blair’s decade in office was marked by uninterrupted economic growth and a more independent Bank of England. Blair also preserved much of Thatcher’s market radicalism while managing to place greater emphasis on social justice . Numerous minority groups found his government more sympathetic to their concerns—notably gays, who by 2004 were allowed to enter into civil partnerships recognized by the law. Many believed, however, that Blair’s role in restoring peace to Northern Ireland would come to be seen as his most enduring political legacy .

Blair showed a remarkable ability to convey optimism and energy in the face of adversity caused not least by the failure in Iraq. Critics of his record argued that, instead of using his parliamentary majority to reform the institutions of state, he pursued incoherent short-term policies that left Britain ill-governed in important areas. The state became more intrusive and even more authoritarian without managing to overcome a range of social ills, particularly rising crime and drug use. The economy grew steadily, but it was burdened by low productivity and growing volumes of personal and state debt. Citizens were heavily taxed, and Britain lost much of its remaining manufacturing base, becoming more dependent on financial services and low-skilled sectors for progress. Blair allowed millions of mainly low-skilled migrant workers to settle in the country, and he was criticized for leaving the economy more exposed to the forces of globalization than that of any other large Western country. The biggest cloud hanging over his reputation was the failure to ensure that British involvement in the invasion and occupation of Iraq resulted in policies capable of preventing that country from becoming a source of instability in the Middle East . History could judge his premiership more kindly in the future.

However, at the time that he stepped down, Blair was widely viewed as a lucky politician with exceptional talents that enabled him to be a successful vote winner but ultimately lacking the ability to be a noteworthy reformer at home or a stabilizing force in a world facing the resurgence of dangerous divisions. Tony Blair, 2006. History of Gordon Brown - GOV.UK GOV.UK The Rt Hon David Cameron MP Gordon Brown Gordon Brown Labour 2007 to 2010 Born 20 February 1951, Giffnock, Glasgow, Scotland Dates in office Labour Major acts Climate Change Act 2008: to set a target for the year 2050 for the reduction of targeted greenhouse gas emissions. Counter-Terrorism Act 2008: to confer further powers to gather and share information for counter-terrorism and other purposes. Interesting facts Britain’s longest-serving modern Chancellor of the Exchequer. He was appointed Chancellor in May 1997, when Tony Blair became Prime Minister, through to June 2007 when he started as Prime Minister himself.

As Prime Minister, Gordon Brown oversaw the devolution of powers in Northern Ireland, the withdrawal of troops from Iraq, and the world's first ever Climate Change Act. Gordon Brown was born in Scotland and grew up in the industrial town of Kirkcaldy. He started at Edinburgh University aged 16, becoming the youngest fresher there since the war. It was at university that he began to have problems with his sight and doctors diagnosed him with a detached retina, which was caused by an injury he received in his final game for his school rugby team. He gained a First Class honours degree in History and became the youngest ever Rector of Edinburgh University in 1972. Gordon Brown became MP for Dunfermline East in the 1983 General Election with a majority of 11,000 and shared his first office in the House of Commons with Tony Blair, where they became friends. Later he became Shadow Chancellor and backed Tony Blair for the leadership of the Labour Party. Working together they won a landslide majority in 1997. He was Chancellor of the Exchequer during the longest ever period of economic growth.

He also made the Bank of England independent and announced, at the Gleneagles Summit in 2005, an agreement to support the world’s poorest countries and deal with climate change. His passion for global justice was shown in his negotiation to cancel the debts of the world’s poorest nations and the tripling of the development budget. It was during his time as Chancellor that he proposed to Sarah Macaulay and 7 months later they were married at their home in North Queensferry. Gordon Brown became Prime Minister on 27 June 2007 after Tony Blair left office. During his time as Prime Minister he oversaw changes such as the introduction of neighbourhood policing in every area, a legally-enforceable right to early cancer screening and treatment, and the world’s first ever Climate Change Act, which was implemented in autumn 2008. The greatest challenge he faced in office was the worldwide financial crisis and the following recession. In April 2009, he hosted the G20 Summit in London where world leaders pledged to make an additional $1.1 trillion available to help the world economy through the crisis and restore credit, growth and jobs. They also pledged to improve financial supervision and regulation.

UK combat operations in Iraq, which had begun during his predecessor’s time in office, came to an end under Gordon Brown. British forces withdrew from the country at the end of April 2009. He regularly visited Iraq and Afghanistan and, in December 2009, he became the first Prime Minister for some considerable time to stay in a war zone when he stayed overnight in Kandahar, Afghanistan. He became heavily involved in international negotiations to reach an agreement to replace the Kyoto Treaty and, in December 2009, he attended the United Nations summit in Copenhagen. Following the summit, he pledged to lead an international campaign to turn the agreements reached at Copenhagen into a legally binding treaty. During his time in office, he worked with his Irish counterpart Brian Cowen to negotiate the devolution of policing and justice powers in Northern Ireland. An agreement was finally reached in February 2010 and the powers were passed to Northern Ireland’s government in the following April.

Help us improve GOV.UK Tony Blair Biography (Political Figure/Prime Minister of Great Britain) Best known as: British prime minister, 1997-2007 Name at birth: Anthony Charles Lynton Blair Tony Blair became the youngest British prime minister of the 20th century when he took office in 1997. He led Britain for a decade until stepping down in 2007. Tony Blair was born in Scotland but spent much of his childhood in Durham, England. He studied law at Oxford and then practiced law until 1983, when he was elected as member of Parliament from Sedgefield. Blair was a member of the Labour Party, which at the time was dominated politically by the Conservative Party of Margaret Thatcher . Blair was soon a rising star of what became known as the "new Labour" movement, with positions more centrist on fiscal affairs and social issues like crime. He became leader of the Labour Party in 1994, and three years later was named prime minister, replacing John Major, when Labour won a Parliamentary majority. Tony Blair was 44, making him the youngest British prime minister since Lord Liverpool in 1812.

(Blair was often compared with the sitting U.S. president, Bill Clinton , who was 46 when he took office in 1993.) Tony Blair was re-elected in Parliamentary elections in 2001 and 2005, although his latter years in office were marked by controversy over his partnership with American President George W. Bush and support for the war in Iraq. He stepped down as the prime minister on 27 June 2007 and was succeeded by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown . Extra credit: Tony Blair’s wife Cherie is also a lawyer. She is the daughter of the actor Anthony Booth and a distant relation to John Wilkes Booth , assassin of Abraham Lincoln … Tony and Cherie Blair have four children: Euan (b. 1984), Nicky (b. 1986), Kathryn (b. 1988) and Leo (b. 2000). According to Tony Blair’s official biography, Leo “was the first child born to a serving Prime Minister in over 150 years”… As a college student, Blair played in a rock band called Ugly Rumors.

Copyright © 1998-2017 by Who2?, LLC. All rights reserved. BBC - History - Tony Blair z Tony Blair © Blair was prime minister for a decade from 1997 - 2007. He is responsible for moving the Labour Party from the left towards the centre ground of British politics, resulting in an unprecedented three consecutive terms in power for the party. Anthony Blair was born on 6 May 1953 in Edinburgh. Educated at Oxford University, he became a barrister and in 1983 was elected Labour member of parliament for Sedgefield. He soon became identified with a group of self-conscious party 'modernisers' (which also included Gordon Brown and Peter Mandelson), who sought to make Labour more acceptable to the electorate by repudiating its association with the trade unions, unilateral nuclear disarmament, public ownership and high taxation. In 1994, following the unexpected death of then leader John Smith, Blair became Labour Party leader after Gordon Brown stood aside to avoid splitting the pro-modernising vote in the leadership ballot.

Blair quickly attained unquestioned authority as leader, which was further underlined by Labour's landslide victory in the 1997 general election. At 43, he was the youngest premier since Lord Liverpool in 1812. He attempted to promote a youthful, modern image of Britain symbolised by BritPop, BritArt and the Millennium Dome. Some of his policies were genuinely radical, especially the constitutional reforms that delivered a measure of self-government to Wales and Scotland. But a promise to reform public services proved less easy to implement, and a controversial reliance on private enterprise initiatives did not seem to deliver the expected improvements in transport, education or health care. Blair was re-elected in 2001. His second term was more troubled, being dominated by a rift with his former ally, Chancellor Gordon Brown. In 2002 - 2003 Blair risked his personal authority by supporting the US government's 'war on terror', despite serious disquiet in his own party and among the wider public. Blair was re-elected in 2005, in an unprecedented third consecutive term for a Labour prime minister.

The same year he chaired the G8 summit at Gleneagles and focused on two issues - climate change and Africa - which had become increasing priorities for him. Blair stepped down in June 2007 and was succeeded as prime minister by Gordon Brown. Blair and his allies succeeded in making the Labour Party electable again, after almost two decades in opposition. To his critics, this achievement was made at the cost of abandoning the party's principles. To his supporters, he was a man willing to risk public unpopularity in the pursuit of policies (most notably the war in Iraq) that he felt were morally justified.

Question: Where was ex-British Prime Minister Tony Blair born?
Answer: Scotland