Tony Blair

Tony Blair at a Labour Party meeting in 2005.

Tony Blair (born 6th May 1953), as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007, perhaps earned a reputation as one of the most controversial holders of Britain's highest political office. Internationally, he was best known for supporting a much-opposed US-led war in Iraq, the repercussions of which are ongoing in the Middle East and the wider world; domestically, his legacy included the abolition of a commitment to state ownership of major industries as a fundamental tenet of his ('New') Labour Party, devolved government in Wales and Scotland, and a resolution of the conflict in Northern Ireland. He currently serves as a Middle East envoy, working to bring about a 'two-state' solution to the conflict over Israel and Palestine.

Current career

Anthony Charles Lynton Blair's experience as a prime minister might have made him an uncontroversial choice for a Middle East envoy, were he not also one of the main architects of the Iraq War. His appointment by the 'Quartet' of the USA, the United Nations, Russia and the European Union was welcomed by Israel and broadly by the Palestinian Authority, but opposed by the Hamas terrorist organisation currently controlling the Gaza Strip. His official role is to work with the Palestinian people to develop the infrastructure and the economy, with the goal of creating a Palestinian state.

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1997-2007

Tony Blair was elected as the Leader of the Labour Party in July 1994 after the sudden death of his predecessor, John Smith. He believed that for the Labour party to regain power, it had to abandon some of its traditional policies. In 1995, he persuaded the party at its annual Conference to ammend its constitution. In particular, the Conference voted to replace Clause IV of its constitution, which then in part declared the aims of the party to be To secure for the workers by hand or by brain the full fruits of their industry and the most equitable distribution thereof that may be possible upon the basis of the common ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange, and the best obtainable system of popular administration and control of each industry or service.

The new version reads

The Labour Party is a democratic socialist party. It believes that by the strength of our common endeavour we achieve more than we achieve alone, so as to create for each of us the means to realise our true potential and for all of us a community in which power, wealth and opportunity are in the hands of the many, not the few. Where the rights we enjoy reflect the duties we owe. And where we live together, freely, in a spirit of solidarity, tolerance and respect.

The original Clause, IV drafted by Sidney Webb, had been adopted by the party in 1918. The redrafting marked a radical break with traditional Labour policy principles, and marked the emergence of what Tony Blair called “New Labour.” The commitment to nationalisation, even though it was widely regarded as rhetoric without practical intent, was widely seen as a major factor in the electoral unpopularity of the Labour party. The Conservative party had won four successive general elections (in), and Labour was by some seen as unelectable while it retained close links with the Trade Union movement and while it espoused the rhetoric of pre-war socialism. Tony Blair thus set out to reassure a country in which, after the years of Thatcher’s government, there had been a wide increase in property ownership, a widening of share ownership, and a marked weakening of Union membership. The Conservative government’s drive to maintain low taxes had led to rising disatisfaction with the level of investment in public services, particularly in education and health, and Tony Blair exploited this disatisfaction and the increasing unease about sleaze and complacency within the conservative government.

At a time when the economy was also performing poorly, Tony Blair’s party won a landslide victory in the 1997 general election. Labour gained 418 seats, the Conservatives just 165; Labour had a majority of 179 over all other parties. Tony Blair became, at 43, the youngest Prime Minister since 1812. For this first term in Government, Tony Blair had promised that there would be no increase in the level of income tax and no increase in the overall level of public spending Labour manifesto, 1997. Tony Blair’s popularity in the country was at an astonishingly high level, and although the commitment not to increase public spending led to frustration amongst those Labour Party supporters who had wanted a rapid increase in investment in health and education, his popularity and that of the Labour Party remained high. He called a fresh general election in May 2001, one year earlier than he was required to, and won a second landslide victory, with an overall majority of 168, though with a much reduced electoral turnout 2001 election results 2001 election manifestos.

The second term in office gave Tony Blair a clear mandate to increase investment in the National Health Service paving the way for annual increases worth more than 7% in the health budget sustained for the five years to 2007-08, meaning more doctors, nurses with better pay along with a considerable capital investment in new hospitals and facilities. How that money has been spent is politically controversial [1], with some believing that much has not been spent efficiently. Others, on the political left, have been unhappy in particular with the involvement of the private sector in the funding of many of the new hospitals – under these arrangements some hospitals were built and are owned and managed (partly) privately while being leased for use by the NHS. Nevertheless, one of legacies of Tony Blair’s government is that all political parties have now accepted that the great majority of the British public want a high quality publicly managed health service with the principle of free universal delivery of health care. This issue, that once appeared to divide the Labour party from the Conservitives, appears to have become a common goal.

The increase in funding for education was no less dramatic: “Education, education, education” was Tony Blair’s slogan for the 1997 general election, and he delivered on it by consistently increasing funding for education above the level of inflation throughout his time in Government – an increase from £29 billion in 1997 to £60 billion in 2007 [2]; with frther rises to £74 billion projected by 2010. Spending per school pupil was £2,500 in 1997, and is projected to be £6,600 in 2010. There has also been a large increase in funding for Universities financing a large increase in access to University education. This too has been controversial, and critics on the left in particular have objected to the introduction for the first time of student fees to pay part of the cost of higher education, while critics on the right believe that the increase in student numbers implies a lowering of educational standards.

Politically, one of the legacies of the Blair government has been devolution in both Scotland and Wales. Scotland now has a separate parliament with devolved responsibities in most domestic areas; Wales has an elected Assembly with much more limited powers. Tony Blair made resolution of the conflict in Northern Ireland a major priority of his Government, and became deeply involved personally in negotiations with the IRA through Sinn Fein’s elected representatives, and with the Unionist parties, including in particular Ian Paisley, the leader of the Democratic Unionist party. These negotiations, with the involvement also of the Irish government and at times facilitated by the involvement of American politicians (and particularly Bill Clinton, with whom Tony Blair maintained a very close personal friendship) led to the historic renunciation of armed conflict by the IRA and to their disarmament. This in turn paved the way for a power-sharing agreement between the Unionists and Sinn Fein.

Underpinning the successes of the Blair government in increasing public spending in education and health without raising the level of income tax was an unprecedented period of economic growth, for which the Chancellor Gordon Brown has generally been given credit. A key element of this success is believed to be the early decision of the Blair government to devolve the power to set interest rates to an independent body - the Bank of England, subject only to politically determined objectives for the rate of inflation and the overall level of public spending. This decision meant in practice that interest rates could no longer be manipulated by the government in power to produce a "false" economic boom for mere elctoral reasons, and led to a steady low level of inflation, and a steady, stable rate of economic growth.

Tony Blair’s single biggest political problem by far was his support for military action to displace Saddam Hussein in Iraq. He justified this policy by his repeated declarations that he believed the evidence of British and American intelligence sources that Saddam Hussein possessed and was further accumulating Weapons of Mass Destruction that posed a serious and imminent threat to the security of the world. He tried vigorously to persuade the United Nations to act collectively when Saddam Hussain expelled UN weapons inspectors from Iraq, but when they failed to endorse collective action, he supported the US decision to invade Iraq regardless, believing, it is said by some, that the consequences of a unilateral military action by the US would be inevitably graver than those of a multilateral action, however limited the involvement of other countries.

The outcome of the invasion of Iraq, and the failure to find Weapons of Mass Destruction, profoundly affected Tony Blair’s credibility and his popularity. Nevertheless, in May 2005 Tony Blair won a third general election for Labour, though with a much reduced overall majority of 64 seats [3]

Resignation and departure as Prime Minister

Resignation announcement

10th May 2007 marked the official announcement of the end of Blair's premiership, with a departure date set for the following 27th June. In a speech made in his Sedgefield constituency, Blair announced a timetable for leaving office, paving the way for his successor Gordon Brown after over ten years of power. In words that emphasised his domestic record more than his international influence, Blair credited his government with lowering crime, stabilising the economy and improving public services; he also emphasised that it had placed the UK at the forefront of fighting terrorism, tackling climate change and providing aid to troubled regions such as Africa. Often accused of having a fervently religious approach to wider issues, he also remained committed to the view that time would see his decision-making vindicated:

I did what I thought was right. I may have been wrong, that's your call, but I did what I thought was right for our country.

An apology for his most-criticised activities was unforthcoming. In concluding, however, Blair admitted that he had made unspecified mistakes:

My apologies to you for the times I've fallen short. But good luck.

Final acts as Prime Minister

Tony Blair's final appearances as an international politician were at the 2007 Group of Eight (G8) summit held between some of the world's most economically powerful states, and a meeting of the European Council of European Union countries. These actions would be expected from a premiership often strongly focused on issues outside the UK's borders, though Blair's intention to bring the country closer to its European partners was not entirely fulfilled. Back in Britain, Blair's final days as Prime Minister saw his name rarely out of the national press: he called the media a "feral beast" while admitting his government's early desire to 'spin' stories may have aggravated this issue; and he strongly criticised the proposed academic boycott on Israeli universities in one of his final performances in the UK's lower house of parliament. As for the upper house, he reaffirmed his view that the House of Lords should remain appointed rather than elected.

Departure

27th June 2007 saw Tony Blair resign as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; his final act in office was to appear for the usual weekly questions to the premier in the House of Commons, where political friends and foe alike paid tribute to some of his record, such as continuing the work towards long-term peace in Northern Ireland. Blair conceded that he had "never pretended to be a great House of Commons man", acknowledging the view that his tenure had seen moves to sideline Parliament; and he apologised for the dangers British troops faced in Iraq. His words of farewell underlined the finality of the event:

I wish everyone, friend or foe, well and that is that, the end.

Immediately after leaving office, Blair severed his final link with UK domestic politics by stepping down as Member of Parliament for Sedgefield, a constituency he represented in the British parliament from 1983 until his appointment as a Middle East envoy in 2007.

External links

• tonyblairoffice.org - Official site with details of Tony Blair's post-Downing Street career.
• Tony Blair archive - official record of Tony Blair's speeches, films and podcasts from the UK Prime Minister's website.
• The Blair Years 1997-2007 - BBC articles covering major events of Tony Blair's premiership, with analysis.
• The New York Times - Includes short biography and links to NY Times articles relating to Tony Blair.
• BBC News - recording of Tony Blair's final appearance for Prime Minister's Questions in Parliament

See also

• List of Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom
• Gordon Brown
• George W. Bush