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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Blair 

Blair as Prime Minister 

Main article: Premiership of Tony Blair 

Blair became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on 2 May 

1997, serving concurrently as the First Lord of the Treasury, the

Minister for the Civil Service, the Leader of the Labour Party, and

Member of Parliament for the constituency of Sedgefield in the

North East of England and a Privy Counsellor. With victories in 1997,

2001, and 2005, Blair was the Labour Party's longest-serving prime

minister, the only person to lead the party to three consecutive

general election victories.

Blair addressing a crowd in Armagh in 1998

Blair is both credited with and criticised for moving the Labour Party

towards the centre of British politics, using the term "New Labour"

to distinguish his pro-market policies from the more collectivist policies which the party had espoused in the past.

In domestic government policy, Blair significantly increased public

spending on health and education while also introducing

controversial market-based reforms in these areas. Blair's tenure

also saw the introduction of a National Minimum Wage, tuition fees

for higher education, and constitutional reform such as devolution in

Scotland and Wales. The British economy performed well, and Blair

kept to Conservative commitments not to increase income tax,

although he did introduce a large number of subtle tax increases

referred to as stealth taxes by his opponents.

His contribution towards assisting the Northern Ireland Peace

Process by helping to negotiate the Good Friday Agreement after 30

years of conflict was widely recognised.[24][25] From the start of the

War on Terror in 2001, Blair strongly supported United States foreign

policy, notably by participating in the invasions of Afghanistan in

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2001 and Iraq in 2003. He encountered fierce criticism as a result,

over the policy itself and the circumstances in which it was decided

upon, especially his claims that Iraq was developing weapons of 

mass destruction (which have not been discovered in Iraq). For hisunwavering support in the security of the United States, Mr. Blair

was honored with the Congressional Medal of Honor on July 18th,

2003.

Following pressure from the Labour Party, on 7 September 2006 

Blair publicly stated he would step down as party leader by the time

of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) conference which was held from

10 September 2007 – 13 September 2007, [26] having promised to

serve a full term during the previous general election campaign.

Relationship with Parliament

Blair changed Parliamentary procedures significantly. One of his first

acts as Prime Minister was to replace the then twice-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 have led to greater efficiency, but critics have

noted that it is easier to prepare for one long set of questions than

for two shorter sessions. In addition to PMQ's, Blair held monthly

press conferences, at which he fielded questions from journalists.[27]

[28]

Other procedural reforms included changing the official times for

Parliamentary sessions in order to have Parliament operate in a

more business-like manner.

Resignation

On 10 May 2007, Blair announced during a speech at the Trimdon

Labour Club in his Sedgefield constituency his intention to resign as

both Labour Party leader and Prime Minister the following June. On

 June 24 he formally handed over the leadership of the Labour Party

to Gordon Brown at a special party conference in Manchester. Blair

tendered his resignation as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to

the Queen on 27 June 2007, his successor Gordon Brown assuming

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office the same afternoon. He also resigned his seat in the House of 

Commons in the traditional form of accepting the Stewardship of the

Chiltern Hundreds to which he was appointed by Gordon Brown in

one of the latter's last acts as Chancellor of the Exchequer.

[29][30]

(It isimpossible to resign from the UK Parliament, so this device is used

for MPs wishing to step down.)[31]

 The resulting Sedgefield by-election was won by Labour's candidate,

Phil Wilson. Blair has not to date issued a list of Resignation

Honours; it has been suggested that the list was delayed because of 

the Cash for Honours investigation by the police. However, that

investigation has now ended and no list has been produced; should

Blair choose not to issue one he will be the first Prime Minister of the

modern era not to do so.[32]

Criticism

Main article: Criticism of Tony Blair 

 Tony Blair has been criticised for his alliance with U.S. PresidentGeorge W. Bush and his policies in the Middle East, including the

Iraq War, the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict and the Israeli-Palestinian

conflict.[58] Blair is also criticised for an alleged tendency to spin 

important information in a way that can be misleading.[59] Blair is the

first ever Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to have been

formally questioned by police officers whilst in office, although he

was not under caution when interviewed.[60]

Critics also regard Tony Blair as having eroded civil liberties and

increased social authoritarianism, by increasing police powers, in

the form of more arrestable offences, DNA recording, and the

issuing of dispersal orders.[61]

Presidentialism

Blair was sometimes perceived as paying insufficient attention both

to the views of his own Cabinet colleagues and to those of the

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House of Commons.[62] His style was sometimes criticised as not that

of a prime minister and head of government, which he was, but of a

president and head of state, which he was not.[63]

Relationship with the United States

Tony Blair and George W. Bush shake hands after their press conference in the EastRoom of the White House on 12 November  2004.

Along with enjoying a close relationship with Bill Clinton during the

latter's time in office, Blair has formed a strong political alliance with

George W. Bush, particularly in the area of foreign policy. At one

point, Nelson Mandela described Blair as "the U.S. foreign minister".[64] Blair has also often openly been referred to as "Bush's poodle."[65] 

Kendall Myers, a senior analyst at the State Department, reportedly

said that he felt "a little ashamed" of Bush's treatment of the Prime

Minister and that his attempts to influence U.S. government policy

were typically ignored—"It was a done deal from the beginning, it

was a one-sided relationship that was entered into with open eyes...

 There was nothing, no payback, no sense of reciprocity".[66]

For his part, Bush has lauded Blair and the UK. In his post-

September 11 speech, for example, he stated that "America has no

truer friend than Great Britain".[67]

 The alliance between Bush and Blair has seriously damaged Blair's

standing in the eyes of many Britons.[68] Blair has argued it is in

Britain's interest to "protect and strengthen the bond" with the

United States regardless of who is in the White House.[69]

Relationship with other European nations

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Blair played a key role in extending the membership of the

European Union from 15 to 27 states, and worked to ensure that

free-market values were adopted.[70]

Blair forged allegiances with several conservative European leaders,

including Silvio Berlusconi of Italy,[71] Angela Merkel of Germany[72] 

and more recently Nicolas Sarkozy of France.[73]

Relationship with Rupert Murdoch

 Tony Blair's close relationship with Rupert Murdoch and the

unprecedented support which he received from Murdoch's global

media empire has also been the subject of much criticism.

[74][75]

Middle East policy and links with Israel

One of Blair's first actions in joining the Labour Party was to join

Labour Friends of Israel. In 1994, a friend and former colleague of 

Blair at 11 King's Bench Walk Chambers, Eldred Tabachnik, Q.C. (one

time president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews) introduced

Blair to Michael Levy, later Lord Levy, a pop music mogul and major

fundraiser for Jewish and Israeli causes, at a dinner party hosted bythe Israeli diplomat Gideon Meir.[76] Blair and Levy soon became

close friends and tennis partners. Levy ran the Labour Leader's

Office Fund to finance Blair's campaign before the 1997 General

Election and received substantial contributions from such figures as

Alex Bernstein and Robert Gavron, both of whom were ennobled by

Blair after he came to power. Levy was created a life peer by Blair in

1997, and in 2002, just prior to the Iraq War, Blair appointed Levy as

his personal envoy to the Middle East. Levy has praised Blair for his"solid and committed support of the State of Israel"[77] and has been

described himself as "a leading international Zionist".[78] In 2004,

Blair was heavily criticised by 50 former diplomats, including

ambassadors to Baghdad and Tel Aviv for his policy on the Israeli-

Palestinian conflict and the Iraq War. They stated they had "watched 

with deepening concern" at Britain following the U.S. into war in Iraq

in 2003 also stating, "We feel the time has come to make our 

anxieties public, in the hope that they will be addressed in

 parliament and will lead to a fundamental reassessment," and asked

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Blair to exert "real influence as a loyal ally ". The ambassadors also

accused the allies of having "no effective plan" for the aftermath of 

the invasion of Iraq and the apparent disregard for the lives of Iraqi

civilians. The diplomats also criticised Blair for his support for theroad map which included the retaining of settlements on the West

Bank stating, "Our dismay at this backward step is heightened by 

the fact that you yourself seem to have endorsed it, abandoning the

 principles which for nearly four decades have guided international

efforts to restore peace in the Holy Land ".[79]

In 2006, Blair was heavily criticised for his failure to call for a

ceasefire in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, with members of his

cabinet openly criticising Israel. Jack Straw, the Leader of the House

of Commons and former Foreign Secretary stated that Israel's

actions risked destabilising all of Lebanon. Kim Howells, a minister in

the Foreign Office, stated that it was "very difficult to understand 

the kind of military tactics used by Israel", "These are not surgical

strikes but have instead caused death and misery amongst innocent 

civilians.". The Observer newspaper claimed that at a cabinet

meeting before Blair left for a summit with President George Bush

on 28 July 2006, a significant number of ministers pressured Blair topublicly criticise Israel over the scale of deaths and destruction in

Lebanon.[80]

Relationship with Labour Party

Blair's apparent refusal to set a date for his departure was criticised

by the British press and Members of Parliament. It has been

reported that a number of cabinet ministers believed that Blair's

timely departure from office would be required to be able to win a

fourth election.[81] Some ministers viewed Blair's announcement of 

policy initiatives in September 2006 as an attempt to draw attention

away from these issues.[81] Upon his return from his holiday in the

West Indies he announced that all the speculation about his leaving

must stop. This stirred not only his traditional critics but also

traditional party loyalists.

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While the Blair government has introduced social policies supported

by the left of the Labour Party, such as the minimum wage and

measures to reduce child poverty, Blair is seen on economic and

management issues as being to the right of much of the party. Apossible comparison may be made with American Democrats such

as Joe Lieberman, who have been accused by their party's "base" of 

adopting their opponents' political stances. Some critics describe

Blair as a reconstructed neoconservative or Thatcherite. He is

occasionally described as "Son of Thatcher", though Lady Thatcher 

herself rejected this identification in an interview with ITV1 on the

night of the 2005 election, saying that in her opinion the

resemblances were superficial. Blair himself has often expressed

admiration for Thatcher.[82]

Approval rating

In May 2006, The Daily Telegraph reported that Blair's personal

approval rating had dipped to 26%, lower than Harold Wilson's

rating after devaluation of the pound and James Callaghan's during

the Winter of Discontent, meaning that Blair had become the most

unpopular post-war Labour Prime Minister. Of all post-war BritishPrime Ministers of both parties, only Margaret Thatcher and John

Major have recorded lower approval (the former in the aftermath of 

the Poll Tax Riots). [83] Previously Blair had achieved the highest

approval ratings of any British Prime Minister or party leader of 

either party in the months following his election in 1997.[84] Two

months later, in July 2006, Blair's approval rating hit a further low of 

23%, the lowest rating he ever received. Blair is not however the

most unpopular post-war Labour Party leader, with Michael Foot 

recording 13% approval in August 1982, although Foot was merely

Leader of the Opposition at the time, rather than Prime Minister. No

other Labour leader other than Foot, whether in office or opposition,

has recorded lower approval than Blair. Blair's approval rating during

the final month of his premiership was 35%. Hence, he left office

having experienced the extremes of being both the most popular

and least popular Labour Prime Minister since the Second World

War.[85]

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