 Tony Blair
British prime minister since 1997, Blair and his allies were responsible for moving the Labour Party towards the political centre ground, resulting in an unprecedented three consecutive terms in office.
Anthony Blair was born on 6 May 1953 in Edinburgh. Educated at Oxford University, he became a barrister and in 1983 was elected Labour member of parliament for Sedgefield. He soon became identified with a group of self-conscious party 'modernisers' (which also included Gordon Brown and Peter Mandelson), who sought to make Labour more acceptable to the electorate by repudiating its association with the trade unions, unilateral nuclear disarmament, public ownership and high taxation.
In 1994, with the unexpected death of John Smith, Blair became Labour Party leader after Gordon Brown stood aside to avoid splitting the pro-modernising vote in the leadership ballot. Blair quickly attained unquestioned authority as leader, which was further underlined by Labour's landslide victory in the 1997 general election. At 43, he was the youngest premier since Lord Liverpool in 1812. He attempted to promote a youthful, modern image of Britain symbolised by Brit-pop, Brit-art and the Millennium Dome. Some of his policies were genuinely radical, especially the constitutional reforms that delivered a measure of self-government to Wales and Scotland. However, a promise to reform public services proved less easy to implement, and a controversial reliance on private enterprise initiatives did not seem to deliver the expected improvements in transport, education or health care.
Blair was re-elected in 2001 and his second term was more troubled, dominated by an apparent rift with his former ally, Chancellor Gordon Brown. In 2002 - 2003 Blair risked his personal authority in supporting the US government's 'war on terror', despite serious disquiet in both the Labour Party and among the wider public. He was re-elected in 2005. He has stated that he will not serve a fourth term as prime minister. Blair and his allies succeeded in making the Labour Party electable again, after almost two decades in opposition. To his critics, this achievement was made at the cost of abandoning the party's principles. To his supporters, he is a man willing to risk public unpopularity in the pursuit of policies (most notably war against Iraq) that he feels are morally justified.
After ten years in power Tony Blair stepped down as prime minister on 27 June 2007.
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