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.

Third term 2005 to present

The Labour Party won the 2005 General Election and a third consecutive term in office. The next day, Blair was invited to form a Government by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The reduction in the Labour majority and the low share of the popular vote (35%) led to some Labour MPs calling for Blair to leave office sooner rather than later; among them Frank Dobson who had served in Blair's Cabinet during his first term. However, dissenting voices quickly vanished as Blair entered into June 2005 and took on European leaders over the future direction of the European Union.

Related Topics:
Queen Elizabeth II - Frank Dobson - European Union

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G8 and EU presidencies

The rejection of the treaty to establish a constitution for the European Union by France and the Netherlands presented Blair with an opportunity to postpone the doubtful UK referendum on the constitution without taking the blame for failing the EU. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw announced that the Parliamentary Bill to enact a referendum was suspended indefinitely. It had previously been agreed that ratification would continue unless the treaty had been rejected by at least five of the 25 European Union member states who must all ratify it.

Related Topics:
Treaty - Constitution - France - Netherlands - Referendum - Foreign Secretary - Jack Straw - European Union member states

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Chirac held several meetings with Schröder and the pair pressed for Britain to give up its rebate, famously won by Lady Thatcher in 1984. After verbal conflict across several weeks, Blair, along with the leaders of all 25 member states, descended on Brussels for the EU Summit of the 18th June 2005 to attempt to finalise the EU budget for 2007-2013. Blair refused to renegotiate the rebate unless the proposals included a compensating overhaul of EU spending, particularly on the Common Agricultural Policy which takes 40% of the EU budget. After intense arguments inside closed doors, talks broke down late at night and the leaders emerged, all blaming each other. It is widely accepted that Blair came out on top, making allies in the Netherlands and Sweden and potentially (and crucially) several of the Eastern European accession countries. It now falls onto Blair himself to broker a deal, as he assumes the 6-month rotating EU presidency on the 1st July. International opinion, particularly in the French press, suggests that Blair holds a very strong position at present, and with the assumption of the EU presidency the UK will simultaneously preside over the EU and the G8.

Related Topics:
Rebate - Thatcher - 18th June - Common Agricultural Policy - Netherlands - Sweden - 1st July - G8

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2012 Summer Olympics

On July 6, 2005, it was formally announced that the 2012 Summer Olympics, the Games of the XXX Olympiad, were awarded to London as host city, as announced by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) during the 117th IOC session in Singapore. The last minute surprise win by London over frontrunner Paris was said to have been decided by the presence of Tony Blair at the IOC session, even down to Irish IOC member Patrick Hickey saying "This is down to Tony Blair. If he hadn't come here I'd say that six to eight votes would have been lost and London would not be sitting here today winners". http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=sportsNews&storyID=2005-07-06T135259Z_01_SPI544691_RTRUKOC_0_OLYMPICS.xml

Related Topics:
July 6 - 2005 - 2012 Summer Olympics - London - IOC - Paris

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2005 London bombings

On Thursday July 7, 2005, a series of four bomb explosions struck London's public transport system during the morning rush hour. At 08:50, three bombs exploded within one minute on three London Underground trains. A fourth bomb exploded on a bus at 09:47 in Tavistock Square. All four incidents are believed to have been suicide bombings. Fifty-six people were confirmed dead, with 700 injured. The incident was the deadliest single act of terrorism in the United Kingdom since 270 died in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, and it was the deadliest bombing in London since World War II.

Related Topics:
July 7 - 2005 - A series of four bomb explosions - Suicide bombings - United Kingdom - Pan Am Flight 103 - Lockerbie, Scotland - World War II

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Blair made about that day's London bombings, saying that he believed it was "reasonably clear" that it was an act of terror, and that he hoped that the people of Britain could demonstrate that their will to overcome the events is greater than the terrorists' wish to cause destruction. He also said that his determination to "defend" the British way of life outweighed "extremist determination" to destroy it.

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On July 21, 2005, a second series of explosions were reported in London, two weeks and some hours after the 7 July 2005 London bombings. Four controlled explosions, of devices considerably less advanced than those of the previous attacks, were carried out at Shepherd's Bush, Warren Street and Oval underground stations, and on a bus in Shoreditch. Even though the attacks on the 21st were less severe than those on the 7th, Blair was reported to have said that the bombings in London today were intended "to scare people and to frighten them, to make them anxious and worried". He went on to say how the "police have done their very best, and the security services too, in the situation, and I think we have just got to react calmly and continue with our business as much as possible as normal".

Related Topics:
July 21 - 2005 - A second series of explosions - London - 7 July 2005 London bombings - Shepherd's Bush - Warren Street - Oval - Shoreditch

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Concerns about terror attacks led to 10 Downing Street requesting media organizations not to identify the location of Blair's 2005 summer holiday.

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A Guardian/ICM poll conducted after the first wave of attacks found that 64% of the British population believed that Blair's decision to wage war in Iraq had led indirectly to the terrorist attacks on London. http://www.guardian.co.uk/attackonlondon/comment/story/0,,1531902,00.html But nonetheless, his approval rating then flipped from negative to positive for the first time in five years. http://telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/07/09/npoll09.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/07/09/ixnewstop.html

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Departure

After Labour's 2004 conference, Blair announced via a BBC interview http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3706630.stm that he would not fight a fourth general election, an unprecedented announcement in Britain, where there is no limit on the time someone may serve as Prime Minister. He also announced he would serve a "full third term".

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Since then, speculation over the anticipated date of his departure has been frequent. The Westminster consensus expected him to go after the proposed UK referendum on the European Union Constitution, but its collapse eliminated this juncture. The July 2005 terror attacks also appear to have strengthened his position. But while bookmakers take bets on his staying, http://www.ladbrokes.com/lbr_portal?action=do_lang_splash&form_name=lang_splash&LANG=en&STYLE=en&VIEW=uk&LAYOUT=default Blair's election agent John Burton has saidhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4737927.stm he will also quit the House of Commons at the next election. The official line from the Downing Street press office on this was that it was the "last thing on mind," but there has been no firm denial.

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If he remains in office until November 26, 2008 Blair will beat Margaret Thatcher's record for longest continuous service as Prime Minister since Lord Liverpool, 1812-27.

Related Topics:
November 26 - 2008 - Margaret Thatcher

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