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Blair Leaves Office, Brown Steps in
by
findingDulcinea Staff
After many years’ waiting, finance minister Gordon Brown becomes British prime minister, while departing Tony Blair adopts the role of special peace envoy to the Middle East.
30 Second Summary
June 27, 2007––Gordon Brown realized a long-held ambition when he and his wife, Sarah, greeted the press from the steps of 10 Downing Street, the traditional home of the British prime minister.
Brown has been finance minister since the outgoing premier, Tony Blair, came to power at the head of Britain's Labour Party in 1997.
Allegedly, in 1994 a deal was struck between the two men: Blair agreed to serve only one term before handing over power. But Brown is taking command in the latter half of Blair's third term. Brown was rumored to have been less than happy about the long wait.
Speculation about the friction arising from Blair’s broken promise has been a constant in the U.K. media for years. It even inspired a British TV movie.
Blair held on to the premiership, but to some eyes it was Brown who, thanks to his prudent guidance of the economy, kept Labour in power.
The current journalistic consensus appears to be that a nation unhappy with Blair over Iraq will welcome Brown’s more sober (some say dour) demeanor.
Brown has been finance minister since the outgoing premier, Tony Blair, came to power at the head of Britain's Labour Party in 1997.
Allegedly, in 1994 a deal was struck between the two men: Blair agreed to serve only one term before handing over power. But Brown is taking command in the latter half of Blair's third term. Brown was rumored to have been less than happy about the long wait.
Speculation about the friction arising from Blair’s broken promise has been a constant in the U.K. media for years. It even inspired a British TV movie.
Blair held on to the premiership, but to some eyes it was Brown who, thanks to his prudent guidance of the economy, kept Labour in power.
The current journalistic consensus appears to be that a nation unhappy with Blair over Iraq will welcome Brown’s more sober (some say dour) demeanor.
Headline
After his parting speech in parliament, Blair received a standing ovation. He talked of the British soldiers fighting alongside U.S. forces, saying he was “truly sorry about the dangers they face today in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
Source: The International Herald Tribune
The United Nations, America, the European Union, and Russia have appointed Blair as their special envoy to the Middle East. Known as the Quartet, those four international mediators face a more difficult task than ever now that Palestinian political representation is split between Fatah and Hamas.
Source: The International Herald Tribune
Reactions
“Tony’s had a great run and history will judge him kindly,” said U.S. President George W. Bush in an exclusive interview with the Sun, Britain’s most popular daily newspaper. Bush went on, “As for the pressure he’s been under at home over Iraq, I ask him about it, try to buck him up as a friend … I’ve heard he’s been called Bush’s poodle. He’s bigger than that.”
Source: The Sun
Gordon Brown has already proved himself a more complex politician than the opposition party expected, according to British magazine the Spectator. The public perception of Brown places him to the left of Tony Blair. However, he has courted city financiers, and in his first speech as Labour Party leader talked of defending the “British way of life,” a statement that the opposition leader “would never dare to utter.”
Source: The Spectator
Reference Material
Blair took his official leave of parliament during prime minister’s question time, a weekly grilling of the PM conducted in the elected chamber of the British parliament. As can be seen from this transcript, the confrontational nature of question time meant that even the commendations that Blair received had to be phrased as questions.
Source: The U.K. Parliament
Opinion
English newspaper The Guardian asked six prominent scholars how they felt Blair will be remembered. Historian Niall Ferguson concludes that regarding “what kept him in power, economic stability … one has to thank Gordon Brown, the Bank of England and globalization.” Another historian, Tristram Hunt, disagrees, writing that Blair “will be praised for modernizing and globalizing Britain.”
Source: The Guardian
As Blair left, “Gordon Brown slapped him on the back once, to say ‘well done,’ then again, as if to say, ‘that’s the exit there.’” So writes political satirist Simon Hoggart in this humorous sketch of Blair’s departure.
Source: The Guardian
Pro-Blair Opinion
Blair combined the best of Margaret Thatcher’s hard-nosed mentality with a traditional Labourite social conscience, and he deserves to be remembered for more than the Iraq war, according to an op-ed in the New York Times. His policies helped end the conflict in Northern Ireland, revitalized Britain’s ailing public health service, and guided Britain through an economic boom that is the envy of Europe.
Source: The New York Times
Contra-Blair Opinion
“Glutinous sentimentality” is how opposition politician and journalist Boris Johnson summed up the media coverage of Blair’s departure. “Look here, I felt like saying,” writes Johnson, “everyone is carrying on as though Blair’s departure is the finest and noblest act of self-sacrifice since Captain Oates walked out into the blizzard. But … he was forcibly ejected through the parliamentary tent-flaps by a Labour Party that was unable to forgive him for the war in Iraq.”
Source: The Daily Telegraph
Key Players
Gordon Brown
The 56-year-old son of a Scottish minister, Brown went to Edinburgh University at only 16 and left with one of the best-ranked degrees in decades. He became an MP in 1983 and Chancellor of the Exchequer, the term for the British cabinet minister for finance, on May 2, 1997.
The 56-year-old son of a Scottish minister, Brown went to Edinburgh University at only 16 and left with one of the best-ranked degrees in decades. He became an MP in 1983 and Chancellor of the Exchequer, the term for the British cabinet minister for finance, on May 2, 1997.
According to this USA Today profile, relations between America and Britain are likely to cool under Brown, though he has said that “anti-Americanism is a mistake.”
Source: USA Today
The public image of Gordon Brown is that of a “dour, self-absorbed figure, a ‘control freak.’” Yet, according to this BBC profile, that portrait is “at odds with the warm generous and engaging character described by Mr. Brown’s friends and family.” The article searches the new prime minister’s history for “the real Gordon Brown.”
Source: The BBC
“America is the country that obviously people identify with liberty and opportunity,” Gordon Brown told Time magazine, “but essentially the ideas of liberty came originally from America’s association with Britain.” Time carries an in-depth interview with the new prime minister.
Source: Time magazine
Number 10 Downing Street is the prime minister’s official home, the U.K. equivalent of the White House. Among much else, the Downing Street site offers video footage of Brown’s first speech and a biography of the new prime minister.
Source: 10 Downing Street
Tony Blair
An Oxford-educated lawyer, Tony Blair emerged from an establishment background to become the leader of Britain’s Labour Party, historically the party of the working classes and their unions.
An Oxford-educated lawyer, Tony Blair emerged from an establishment background to become the leader of Britain’s Labour Party, historically the party of the working classes and their unions.
Tony Blair realigned the traditionally socialist Labour Party to the center ground, became Britain's youngest ever prime minister, and achieved for his party an unprecedented three terms in office.
Source: The BBC
Related Links
On May 10, 2007 Tony Blair announced that he would step down on June 27 in a speech to Labour Party activists, heralding the end of 10 years as British Prime Minister.
Source: Blair to Stand Down June 27
Tony Blair was Britain’s first sitting prime minister to declare before his third election victory that he would stand down in his third term. Why he did so is explained in this BBC Q&A.
Source: The BBC
In 2003 Stephen Frears directed a TV movie, The Deal, based on the bargain allegedly struck in 1994 between Blair and Brown.
Source: The Internet Movie Database
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