In This Article
Subscribe to Politics UpdatesBlair to Stand Down June 27
by
findingDulcinea Staff
Tony Blair announces his coming resignation in a speech to Labour Party activists, heralding the end of 10 years as British Prime Minister.
30 Second Summary
With no one to challenge his succession, finance minister Gordon Brown will become the new British prime minister at the end of June.
Brown has been waiting some years for this appointment. Political legend has it that Blair promised to pass on the torch at the end of his first term in power.
Pundits are now hard at work assessing the legacy of the Blair years.
Tony Blair's three election victories overturned the political status quo in England. When he first became prime minister, the Labour party had never won two consecutive terms in government. Labour's opponents, the Conservative Party, styled themselves as the "natural party of power."
Despite such unprecedented electoral success, Blair's recent years have been troubled. He opposed public opinion to send troops to Iraq, a move that has only become more unpopular with time.
He also faces a continuing police investigation into his party’s alleged trade in political positions, known as the “cash for honors” inquiry.
In his parting speech, Blair talked of coming to power in 1997: “Expectations were so high, too high. … Now in 2007, you can easily point to the challenges, the things that are wrong, the grievances that fester.”
He went on to argue that the economy, the job market, and the health system had all improved during his tenure. “Think back,” he said. “Think about your own living standards then in May 1997 and now.”
Brown has been waiting some years for this appointment. Political legend has it that Blair promised to pass on the torch at the end of his first term in power.
Pundits are now hard at work assessing the legacy of the Blair years.
Tony Blair's three election victories overturned the political status quo in England. When he first became prime minister, the Labour party had never won two consecutive terms in government. Labour's opponents, the Conservative Party, styled themselves as the "natural party of power."
Despite such unprecedented electoral success, Blair's recent years have been troubled. He opposed public opinion to send troops to Iraq, a move that has only become more unpopular with time.
He also faces a continuing police investigation into his party’s alleged trade in political positions, known as the “cash for honors” inquiry.
In his parting speech, Blair talked of coming to power in 1997: “Expectations were so high, too high. … Now in 2007, you can easily point to the challenges, the things that are wrong, the grievances that fester.”
He went on to argue that the economy, the job market, and the health system had all improved during his tenure. “Think back,” he said. “Think about your own living standards then in May 1997 and now.”
Headline
Two left-wing Labour politicians were openly considering running for the leadership, John McDonnell and Michael Meacher. They met on Thursday to decide which of them would stand, but failed to reach a conclusion.
Source: The BBC
“On 27 June I will tender my resignation from the office of Prime Minister to the Queen. I have been Prime Minister of this country for just over 10 years. In this job, in the world today, that is long enough for me bur more especially for the country,” Tony Blair said. The full text of his resignation speech is available online.
Source: The Daily Telegraph
Reactions
As of May 16, Gordon Brown stood unopposed as the successor to Tony Blair as the prime minister of Great Britain. One potential opponent, left-winger John McDonnell, expressed disappointment that party members would not have "an opportunity of participating in a democratic election for the leader of this party."
Source: The BBC
Key Players
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. This authorized biography is for the large part a ledger of successes, the highpoint of which is Blair’s election as Britain’s youngest ever prime minister in 1997.
Source: Number 10
Number 10 Downing Street is the Prime Minister’s official home, the U.K. equivalent of the White House. The Downing Street site offers a summary of his resignation, tenure, and current work, and declares that he “continues to be fully focused on the business of government.”
Source: Number 10
Only a member of parliament can stand for prime minister, in accordance with the British constitution. Tony Blair is the member of parliament for Sedgefield, in the North East of England.
Source: Sedgefield Borough Council
Tony Blair presents a personable side in a recent interview with British comic, actor, and author Stephen Fry. Among other topics, the discussion covers multiculturalism and the unavoidable constraints on politicians.
Source: Tony Blair in Interview
Gordon Brown became Chancellor of the Exchequer, the term for the British cabinet minister for finance, on May 2, 1997. He was born in 1951 and first became an MP in 1983.
Source: Her Majesty's Treasury
Gordon Brown’s governance of the economy played a major part in the last British national election, in which Tony Blair won his third term as prime minister. Brown is the longest serving chancellor in modern times, according to this BBC profile.
Source: The BBC
Background
The ongoing police investigation into the political party funding is known as the “cash for peerages” or “cash for honors” inquiry. It began in 2006, when it emerged that three millionaires who had made donations to the Labour Party had subsequently been nominated to the second chamber of the U.K. parliament, the House of Lords. This Q&A outlines the issues surrounding party funding in Britain and the history and impact of the current investigation.
Source: The Guardian
The “special relationship” between Britain and America came into being during the Second World War. It has since become one of the givens of Anglo–American politics. Reflecting on Blair’s attitude to transatlantic diplomacy, the New York Times says, “It is hard to recall a time when that relationship has condemned a British prime minister to such an ambiguous mix of celebrity abroad and scorn at home.”
Source: The New York Times (free registration required)
History
Blair’s period in office (1997–2007) is only slighter shorter than Margaret Thatcher’s stint (1979–1990). In contrast, however, Thatcher was forced to leave Number 10 when her party turned on her, largely because of her resistance to European integration.
Source: History Learning Site
Opinion
Gordon Brown has maintained “an almost trappist silence” on foreign policy, according to the International Herald Tribune. The newspaper predicts that he will be less adventurous than Blair in his policy, which is likely to be shaped by the prudence that was so evident in Brown’s decisions as finance minister.
Source: The International Herald Tribune
The New York Times is another paper to judge Brown to be something of an enigma. The son of a Scottish preacher, Brown was a precocious student, entering Edinburgh University at 16. “But for all his years of fanfare heralding Brown’s ascendancy, the details of his vision for Britain, particularly its relationship with the United States, remain opaque.”
Source: The New York Times
The traditionally Conservative newspaper the Daily Telegraph concludes that a “gap between rhetoric and achievement defined [Blair’s] era.” The article states that “arguably, the greatest achievement” of Blair’s premiership was not his, but was “Gordon Brown’s decision to hand over monetary policy to the Bank of England.” That said, the Telegraph commends Blair’s record on Northern Ireland.
Source: The Daily Telegraph
Slate writer Geoffrey Wheatcroft ask “Why do Brits dislike Tony Blair?” The British economy is the envy of mainland Europe, and in relative terms Britain has not paid too high a price for the Iraq war, opines Wheatcroft. He thinks the explanation for Britain's antipathy to Blair lies in his government’s tone as much as its policies.
Source: Slate
Blair has seen peace come to Northern Ireland, and presided over 10 years of a growing economy. He also took Britain into the Iraq war and was the first sitting British prime minister to be interviewed by the police in the course of their investigations. This CNN article assesses Blair’s mixed legacy.
Source: CNN
Reference Material
In May 2007, independent British pollsters YouGov, in conjunction with the U.K. Daily Telegraph, conducted a survey into British perceptions regarding Blair’s legacy. When asked if Britain was worse or better than it was 10 years ago, 58% responded in the negative, and only 17% thought the country had improved. Asked whether Tony Blair had done a good job, 49% responded positively.
Source: YouGov.com
Britain’s economy is one of the strongest in Europe. National statistics and a précis of the country’s recent history are provided online by the CIA.
Source: The CIA Worldbook
The Labour Party and the Conservative Party are Britain’s largest political parties, one of which is sure to form the next government. The Conservatives, A.K.A the “Tories,” occupy the center-right. Before Blair came to office in 1997, the Tories had been in power for two-thirds of the 20th century.
Source: The Conservative Party
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
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