Tony Blair

The Right Honourable Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953 in Edinburgh, Scotland) is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service. He has led the Labour Party since July 1994, (following the death of John Smith in May of that year) and brought Labour into power with a landslide victory in the 1997 general election, replacing John Major as Prime Minister and ending 18 years of Conservative government. He is now the Labour Party's longest-serving Prime Minister, and the only person to have led the party to three consecutive general election victories, just as Margaret Thatcher was the only Conservative Prime Minister to win three consecutive general elections.

First term 1997 to 2001

Establishment of the Third Way

Immediately after taking office, Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown gave the Bank of England the power to set the base rate of interest autonomously. The traditional tendency of governments to manipulate interest rates around the time of General Elections for political gain is thought to have been deleterious to the UK economy and helped reinforce a cyclical pattern of boom and bust, for which Blair frequently criticises previous governments. Brown's decision was popular with the City, which the Labour Party had been courting since the early 1990s. Together with the government's avowed determination to remain within projected Conservative spending limits for the first two years of its period of office, it helped to reassure sceptics of the Labour Party's new-found fiscal "prudence". Brown, who had his own following within the Labour Party, was a powerful and independent Chancellor who was given exceptional freedom to act by Blair, although later reports by Downing Street insiders have said that Blair grew to regret this as he was cut out of important fiscal decisions.

Related Topics:
Chancellor of the Exchequer - Gordon Brown - Bank of England - Boom and bust - The City

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Control over House of Commons

Blair has encouraged reforms to Parliamentary procedures. One of his first acts as Prime Minister was to replace the two weekly 15 minute sessions of Prime Minister's Questions, held on a Tuesday and Thursday, with a single 30 minute session on a Wednesday. This reform was said to be more efficient, but critics point out that it is easier to prepare for one long set of questions than two shorter interrogations. There has been a perception that Blair has avoided attending debate and voting in Parliament, although his vote is seldom needed given Labour's large majorities in the House of Commons.

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Further reforms include the prominence given to the Prime Minister's Press Secretary, who became known as the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (though the current PMOS is not the press secretary). This role was filled by Alastair Campbell from May 1997 to 8 June 2001. Campbell had been an important cog in the New Labour election machine for the 1997 general election, working with Peter Mandelson to co-ordinate Labour's campaign. In the early years of his first term, Blair relied for his political advice on a close circle of his own staff, amongst whom Campbell was seen as particularly influential: he was given the authority to direct civil servants, who previously had taken instructions only from ministers. Unlike some of his predecessors, Campbell was a political appointment and had not come through the Civil Service. Campbell was replaced by Godric Smith and Tom Kelly when he moved to become the Prime Minister's Director of Communications and Strategy immediately after Blair's election success on 7 June 2001. Campbell ultimately resigned on August 29, 2003.

Related Topics:
Prime Minister's Official Spokesman - Alastair Campbell - 8 June - 2001 - Peter Mandelson - Civil servants - Minister - Civil Service - Godric Smith - Tom Kelly - 7 June - August 29 - 2003

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Domestic policies

A significant achievement of Blair's first term was the negotiation of the Belfast Agreement, commonly called the Good Friday Agreement, in which the British and Irish Governments and most Northern Irish political parties established an "exclusively peaceful and democratic" framework for power-sharing in Northern Ireland. Negotiations had begun under the previous Prime Minister, John Major but collapsed after the end of the IRA ceasefire. The agreement was finally signed on 10 April 1998, and on 26 November 1998 Blair became the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to address the Republic of Ireland's parliament. Though the agreement has run into difficulties with Sinn Féin claiming it is yet to be implemented in full and the Democratic Unionist Party rejecting it outright, the political structures it brought into being have increased the chances of a sustained peace.

Related Topics:
Belfast Agreement - John Major - IRA ceasefire - 10 April - 1998 - 26 November - Republic of Ireland - Sinn Féin - Democratic Unionist Party

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Blair's first term saw an extensive programme of constitutional reform. A Human Rights Act was introduced in 1998; a Welsh Assembly and a Scottish Parliament were both set up; and most hereditary peers were removed from the House of Lords in 1999; the Greater London Authority was established in 2000; and the Freedom of Information Act was passed later that year, with its provisions coming into effect over the next decade. This latter proposal disappointed campaigners whose hopes had been raised by a White Paper of 1998 which promised a more robust Act. No significant further progress has been made in reforming the House of Lords since 1999: the debate remains open whether the reformed chamber should be fully elected, fully appointed, or part elected and part appointed.

Related Topics:
Human Rights Act - Welsh Assembly - Scottish Parliament - Peers - House of Lords - Greater London Authority - Freedom of Information Act - White Paper

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In 1999, Blair presided over British involvement in the Kosovo War. The Labour Party in opposition had criticised the Conservative government for weakness over Bosnia, and Blair was one of those urging a strong line by NATO against Slobodan Milo?evi?. He persuaded the US Clinton administration to support the use of ground troops should aerial bombardment fail to win the war, although in the event they were not needed. His speech setting out the Blair Doctrine of the International Community was made one month into the war, in Chicago on April 22, 1999 (transcript). The same year he was awarded the Charlemagne Award by the German city of Aachen, for his contributions to the European idea and to European peace.

Related Topics:
Kosovo War - Bosnia - NATO - Slobodan Milo?evi? - Clinton - April 22 - 1999 - Charlemagne Award - Aachen

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In the 2001 UK general election, Blair defined the election as being about improvements to public service. This specifically included the National Health Service. The Conservatives largely ignored the issue of public services in favour of opposing British membership of European Monetary Union, which proved to do little to win over floating voters: the Labour Party preserved its majority, and Blair became the first Labour Prime Minister to win a full second term. However the election was notable for a large fall in voter turnout. The leader of the Conservative Party, William Hague, resigned, becoming the first Conservative Party leader never to have served as Prime Minister ; his successors Iain Duncan Smith and Michael Howard became the second and currently third holders of this distinction (although Austen Chamberlain never became Prime Minister, he only led the Conservative MPs, and thus technically was never the leader of the Conservative Party).

Related Topics:
2001 UK general election - National Health Service - European Monetary Union - Floating voter - Conservative Party - William Hague - Iain Duncan Smith - Michael Howard - Austen Chamberlain

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