Tony Blair

After almost 20 years of a Conservative government, Tony Blair was elected as Prime Minister. It was a much-needed breath of fresh air for a country tired of Conservative scandals. Blair oversaw several significant events in British history, such as the Good Friday Agreement and the War on Terror, and earned praise for many of his policies.

Nevertheless, he also garnered plenty of criticism, especially over his handling of the Iraq war, and therefore his legacy is hotly debated to this day.

Tony Blair Background

Tony Blair, born Anthony Charles Lynton Blair, was born in 1958 to Scottish parents. After studying law at Oxford University, Blair became active in politics during the mid-1970s. In 1983, he was elected the Labour MP for Sedgefield, a constituency near Durham, north England.

Tony Blair 2010. Wikimedia Commons.

Blair became leader of the Labour Party in 1994, after the sudden death of the previous leader John Smith. As leader, Blair very successfully modernised the Labour Party, his own youth and lively character making the Labour Party appealing to a public who were tired of a Conservative government.

Tony Blair became Prime Minister in 1997, defeating the Conservatives in a landslide victory. He remained Prime Minister until his resignation in 2007.

Tony Blair Labour

When Tony Blair became the leader of the Labour Party in 1997, it marked the dawn of a new era for the movement. Through a process of modernisation, Tony Blair transformed the party into 'New Labour' - a dynamic, youthful party that promised to change Britain.

'New Labour'

These were the key focus points of the Labour Party's ideological shift:

• Nationalisation, formerly a key Labour policy, was to be abandoned as a main focus for the party.

• MPs were to avoid mentioning socialism in connection with the Labour Party so as not to scare people away.

• Labour adopted a business-centric politics.

• Legal restrictions on trade unions were maintained.

• Labour would stop presenting their policies in terms of a class struggle.

• Labour would form closer ties with Europe and maintain Britain's 'special relationship' with the USA.

After 18 years of a Conservative government, this new Labour ideology appealed not only to their traditional voter base in the working classes, but also tempted those who were disillusioned with the Conservative party after Margaret Thatcher and the scandals under John Major.

The 1997 General Election

With an expanded voter base and a more appealing ideology, Labour defeated the Conservatives in a landslide victory in the 1997 general election. Around 10% of voters changed their votes from Conservative to Labour, and the Labour Party gained more votes in almost every demographic.

It was a huge victory for the Labour Party and, crucially, proved that Tony Blair's modernisation programme had worked.

Character and Popularity

Although his programme of modernisation helped market 'New Labour' to the British public, Tony Blair himself was one of the main selling points for the party.

John Major, the current Prime Minister, was seen as a competent but thoroughly dull man. Blair, on the other hand, was relatively young and had a charming, lively personality, making him far more appealing. This helped sell the image of a tired, old Conservative party in need of replacement by a vibrant, reformed Labour Party.

Spin Doctors

A key feature of Tony Blair's style of government was his use of spin doctors. Essentially, their job was to make sure government policies were presented to the public in the best possible light - 'spinning' the story to make the government look good. However, they differed from a regular press team because they could influence and shape government policy.

The most prominent spin doctors were Alistair Campbell and Peter Mandelson - they both worked in Tony Blair's election campaign and helped promote his image to the public. Campbell, in particular, was so influential in Blair's government that he was nicknamed 'the real Deputy Prime Minister'.

However, the use of spin doctors was controversial. They used manipulative and deceptive tactics to force good press coverage of the government and its policies, leading to a rise in distrust of politicians and the media.

Tony Blair Prime Minister

Tony Blair's era as Prime Minister spanned ten years, and included several key policies and global crises.

Tony Blair Policies

Tony Blair was fortunate in that he had been left a decently strong economy by the Conservatives. This meant he was able to focus on delivering the promises he made during the election campaign, rather than solving a financial crisis. On the whole, Labour's economic policies were successful.

Labour's aims were to spend more money improving public services and the welfare state; this was very popular, but came at a cost. Equally, the Chancellor Gordon Brown made some blunders, especially when dealing with the international economy, that had serious implications. It is also debated whether Gordon Brown could have been so successful if he had not inherited a strong economy from the Conservatives.

Expenditure and Borrowing

During the first term of Tony Blair's leadership, Gordon Brown made very prudent financial decisions in order to make Britain wealthier and stop the rise of inflation.

After a few years of this, Brown turned around and increased government expenditure through investing into health, education and social care services. This was something that Labour had promised to do, was certainly needed and had many benefits for the country - however, it also had the effect of increasing inflation.

Gordon Brown also borrowed a lot of money from foreign bankers to pay for Labour policies. This was not so much of an issue until 2007, when it was clear and economic recession was coming. If a country's industry is propped up on foreign loans, then they will be affected when that funding is taken away as other countries shore up their own finances to protect themselves during the recession. This meant the UK's economic growth and revenue would fall in the period where it needed to rise more than ever.

Pensions

One of the ways that Gordon Brown built up Britain's financial reserves was through taxing the pension system. He raised the tax on the money people received from the government for their pension - this meant that the value of people's pension fell rapidly. By the end of Tony Blair's leadership in 2007, the amount pensioners lost through the tax totalled £8 billion.

This was not easily forgotten by the public, and contributed to the downturn in Labour's popularity towards the end of Tony Blair's leadership.

Employment

One of the proudest achievements of the Blair government was that it had increased employment, with 2.9 million more people in work in 2007 than in 1997. However, this was a rather superficial achievement. Employment growth had not happened where it was most needed, amongst unskilled workers and young people. By 2007, there were still 5.4 million people who were unemployed and relying on benefits to survive.

While Devolution gave Scotland and Wales more control over their own countries, it was not a sign that Tony Blair or his government supported full independence for either of them. Breaking up the union was a step too far for the Labour Party - both Scotland and Wales were Labour strongholds. If they were no longer part of the UK, there was no chance of Labour ever holding power again.

Reforming the House of Lords

Tony Blair had also committed to reforming the House of Lords, in order to ensure that unelected hereditary peers could not hold seats in the House.

Tony Blair wanted to end the right of unelected hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords - instead ensuring that the House would be filled with people appointed by the government who had a diverse range of expertise to help scrutinise bills and offer advice. The House of Lords Reform Bill passed in 1999, leading to the expulsion of all but 92 hereditary peers from the House. Tony Blair then began appointing new peers who supported New Labour - this was criticised as an attempt to flood the House with people who would support him in order to consolidate Labour's power.

Tony Blair and Europe

The debate about the UK's place in Europe and the European Union had been a hot topic since Britain's entry in 1973, and Tony Blair's leadership was no different. There were multiple issues that Blair faced concerning Europe, and many of them were left unsolved.

The 'Third Way'

Concerning the EU, British politicians were divided into two camps - one side wanted closer ties with Europe as they thought that would be beneficial for Britain; the other side wanted to stay away from Europe for fear of Britain losing its sovereignty and becoming part of an EU 'superstate'.

In a speech in Warsaw, Tony Blair made the argument that a 'third way' could be found - one in which EU member states kept their sovereignty, but came together over matters of international security, trade and diplomacy.

Blair's vision was idealistic, but fated to never come to be. The leaders of other EU member states were not very swayed by his idea - in reality, they were simply waiting for Britain to 'fall in line' and accept the rules that had been laid out.

Pressures from the EU

There were several other crisis points concerning the EU that Blair faced. The table below gives a brief overview of the issues and their impact.

Tony Blair War

Tony Blair kept to his pledge of maintaining the special relationship between Britain and the USA. He got on very well with the US President at the time, George W. Bush - they grew even closer after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Afterwards, Blair pledged that Britain would play a key role in the 'War on Terror". Blair committed his government to drive out the Taliban in Afghanistan and, in March 2003, he involved British troops in the US-Iraqi War.

Tony Blair Iraq

On the 20 of March 2003, American and British forces began the invasion of Iraq without formal UN sanction and, for Tony Blair, without the majority support of his government, the opposition party or the British people. This invasion was justified by a report which presented evidence that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. Many protests erupted over Blair's decision and some of his cabinet even resigned.

During Blair's leadership, many questions began to emerge about the justifications for this war, as the physical evidence of Iraq's weapons programme failed to appear. The main question came in July 2003, following the suicide of Dr David Kelly. Dr Kelly had worked as an expert in the Ministry of Defence and was one of the main proponents who argued that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. His sudden death led to a virulent cry for answers.

Blair soon found himself in the hot seat, as before Kelly took his life he admitted to a British journalist that he thought the government had exaggerated the claim's about Hussein's weapons programme in order to justify an invasion. Indeed, the Iraq dossier that was supposed to have evidence of weapons of mass destruction, was clearly faked.

Impact of the Iraq War

Tony Blair's eagerness to follow the USA into battle came with severe reprisals for his popularity and perception. Although he had some supporters, Blair's decision was controversial with the British public, the Conservative party and even with many in his own party.

The campaign was, in part, successful, and Saddam Hussein was removed from power and captured for good in September 2003. However, thanks to poor planning for the aftermath, it did not bring peace. With Hussein gone, rival factions within Iraq began jostling for power, essentially beginning a civil war and the UK and USA were forced to remain in Iraq to try and quell the fighting. The war continued until 2011, claiming the lives of countless innocent civilians.

Impact on the UK

The London Bombings on 7 July 2005 brought the reality of terrorism to the British public, when four explosions in London killed 54 people. However, it was argued that the Iraq War had only helped increase extremism and hatred of the West amongst radical groups, leading to an increase in terrorist attacks.

The involvement of the UK in the Iraq War also caused serious issues within British society. The war led to increased animosity towards British Muslims, who felt targeted and alienated by the government's actions.

Tony Blair's Legacy

On 10 May 2007, Tony Blair announced his intention to resign as Prime Minister and leader of the Labour Party. His successor was Gordon Brown, who became Prime Minister a month later.

Why did he resign?

Although Blair won his third election in 2005, Labour's majority was reduced from 167 to 66 seats, and won only 35% of the popular vote. This made it clear that Blair's time had come, and he faced calls from within his own party to step down sooner, rather than later.

Here is an overview of why Tony Blair resigned:

Needless to say, opinion on Tony Blair is thoroughly divided - a 2021 YouGov poll of Labour Party members showed that 54% of members had a favourable view of Blair, whilst 45% had an unfavourable one.² The split opinions within the Labour Party demonstrate what a controversial figure Tony Blair is.

His supporters cite improvements to health and education services, employment and Northern Ireland as just some of Tony Blair's achievements. On the other hand, his critics refer to the Iraq war, issues with Europe and parts of Blair's economic policy as a counter.