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Tony Blair

The Right Honourable Anthony Charles Lynton "Tony" Blair (born 6 May 1953) has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since 1997, when he brought the Labour Party into power after 18 consecutive years of Conservative government.

After becoming the Leader of the Labour Party in 1994 following the death of John Smith, Blair led the party towards the centre of British politics, using the term "New Labour" as a slogan to describe a party more favourable to private industry. However, critics to the left feel that in the process he has compromised its founders' principles, and that the government places insufficient emphasis on the redistribution of wealth. Since the September 11th terrorist attack his agenda has been dominated by foreign affairs, where he has supported the USA in the "War on Terror" and sent British forces to participate in the 2003 Iraq War and its aftermath.

Early life

Blair was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. His father Leo was a barrister and later a law lecturer who was active in the Conservative Party.

Appointed PM:
2 May 1997
PM Predecessor: John Major
Date of Birth: 6th May 1953
Place of Birth: Edinburgh,
Scotland
Political Party: Labour


Leo Blair had ambitions to stand for Parliament in Durham but was thwarted when he had a stroke when Blair was 11, an event which affected Blair deeply. He spent most of his childhood years in Durham, where between the age of 13 and 15 he worked during the school holidays as a bicycle repairer in the local hardware store, "Jonathon Willikstop's". After attending the Durham Choristers School, Blair was educated at Fettes College in Edinburgh (sometimes called the "Eton of Scotland"), where he met Charlie Falconer whom he would later make Lord Chancellor. He read law at St. John's College, Oxford. During his college years he also played guitar and sang for a rock band called Ugly Rumours. He obtained a degree and went on to enroll as a pupil barrister in the Chambers of Derry Irvine where he met his future wife, Cherie Booth.

Begins political career

Shortly after graduation in 1975, Blair joined the Labour Party. During the early 1980s, he was involved in the Hackney South Labour Party, where he aligned himself with the "soft left" who appeared to be taking control of the party. However, his attempt to secure selection as a candidate for Hackney Borough Council was unsuccessful. Through his father-in-law he contacted Tom Pendry, a Labour MP, to ask for help in how to start his Parliamentary career; Pendry gave him a tour of the House of Commons and advised him to run for selection in a by-election due to be held in the safe Conservative seat of Beaconsfield in 1982, where Pendry knew a senior member of the local party. Blair was chosen as the candidate; he won only 10% of the vote and lost his deposit, but impressed the then Labour Party leader Michael Foot and got his name noticed within the party.

In 1983, Blair found that the newly-created seat of Sedgefield, near where he had grown up in Durham, had no Labour candidate. Several sitting MPs displaced by boundary changes were interested, but Blair managed to win the nomination. The seat was safely Labour despite the party's collapse in the 1983 UK general election; Blair was helped on the campaign trail by soap actress Patricia Phoenix, the girlfriend of his father-in-law Anthony Booth.


Tony Blair's First Cabinet, May 1997–June 2001

Tony Blair — Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, and Minister for the Civil Service
John Prescott — Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions
Gordon Brown — Chancellor of the Exchequer and Second Lord of the Treasury
Lord Irvine of Lairg — Lord Chancellor
Ann Taylor — Leader of the House of Commons
Lord Richard — Leader of the House of Lords
Alistair Darling — Chief Secretary to the Treasury
David Clark — Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Cabinet Office Minister
Robin Cook — Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
Jack Straw — Secretary of State for the Home Department
Jack Cunningham — Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
Frank Dobson — Secretary of State for Health
George Robertson — Secretary of State for Defence
Harriet Harman — Secretary of State for Social Security and Minister for Women and Equality
David Blunkett — Secretary of State for Education and Employment
Margaret Beckett — Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and President of the Board of Trade
Chris Smith — Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Clare Short — Secretary of State for International Development Tony Blair's Second Cabinet, June 2001–present

Tony Blair — Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, and Minister for the Civil Service:
John Prescott — Deputy Prime Minister
Gordon Brown — Chancellor of the Exchequer and Second Lord of the Treasury
Lord Irvine of Lairg — Lord Chancellor
Robin Cook — Leader of the House of Commons
Lord Williams of Mostyn — Leader of the House of Lords
Andrew Smith — Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Jack Straw — Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
David Blunkett — Secretary of State for the Home Department
Margaret Beckett — Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Stephen Byers — Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions
Alan Milburn — Secretary of State for Health
Geoff Hoon — Secretary of State for Defence
Alistair Darling — Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Estelle Morris — Secretary of State for Education and Skills
Patricia Hewitt — Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and Minister for Women and Equality
Tessa Jowell — Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Clare Short — Secretary of State for International Development
John Reid — Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Helen Liddell — Secretary of State for Scotland
Paul Murphy — Secretary of State for Wales
Charles Clarke — Minister without Portfolio


Mo Mowlam — Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Donald Dewar — Secretary of State for Scotland
Ron Davies — Secretary of State for Wales
Gavin Strang — Minister for Transport
Peter Mandelson — Minister without Portfolio (non-cabinet)