Tony Blair, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the 'New' Labour Party.

Born Anthony Charles Lynton Blair on 6 May 1953 in Edinburgh to Leo Charles Lynton Blair and Hazel Blair.

Blair pre-Parliament

Our young Tony was educated at Fettes College, Edinburgh and then St John's College, Oxford. At Oxford, Master Blair excelled in... singing? He was the lead singer and guitarist of a band called Ugly Rumours. How appropiate. He met Cherie Booth, daughter of Tony Booth, during his first year law apprenticeship and before you know it¹ they were married. Before becoming a barrister² in 1976, specialising in employment and industrial law, and just after graduating from Oxford, Tony worked as a bartender and insurance clerk in Paris³.

Blair's rise to power

Tony Blair's first step of the ladder of Parliament was, frankly, disappointing. After joing the Labour Party in 1975, he came third in May 1982 when running for Beaconsfield⁴. That didn't stop young Tony though. Only thirteen short months later he won the newly created seat⁵ of Sedgefield. In 1984 he was appointed assistant spokesman on Teasury, then he became Deputy Spokesman on Trade and Industry in 1987 (however, his Official Biography on the Downing Street Website curiously omits to mention the latter post). He was finally elected to the Shadow Cabinet⁶ (as Shadow Secretary of State for Energy) in 1988, becoming Shadow Secretary of State for Employment in 1989 and he was voted onto the National Executive Committee⁷ in September 1992. Following the election that year he became Shadow Home Secretary⁸ and he was elected to the Labour Party leadership in 1994 after the sad demise of John Smith, whilst the party were still in opposition.

Blair as Leader of the Labour Party

At 41, he was the youngest ever Labour Party Leader and this came across in his leadership style. Blair set out to modernize a party that had been in opposition for 15 years. He abolished the parts of the Labour constitution that called for a nationalization of all public services and brought the party's outlook away from the left and towards the centre (something now called centre left). To show how much the party had changed he renamed it 'New Labour'. However, this isn't neccasarily a bad thing, as some members of the British Press⁹ have lead the public to believe.

TB, as he isn't known to his friends, was helped in his quest to create a 'Cool Britania' by two close chums, both honourable, upstanding members of the community who are not guided by anything other then noble intentions, Alistair Campbell (a former journalist)and Peter Mandelson (a politician).

Blair as Prime Minister

Another triumph for Tony came when he was elected to power aged just 43, the youngest Prime Minister since Lord Liverpool in 1812. Blair's leadership of the country to date in many areas could be considered a success. The country is prosperous (relatively), unemployment is low and George Bush is still in the USA. However, people have accused our Tone of being too Presidential in his leadership style, with everything centralised to Whitehall and Blair having the final say on a lot of matters. Of course, this is only one opinion and it could be completely made up, but best to include it for balance.

In recent times TB has stood 'shoulder to shoulder' with a Republican President whilst being a 'close personal friend' of a Democratic President. He has also found the time to father a child, Leo, the first PM to do so in office since Lord John Russell in 1848¹⁰.

And so we come to the present and the future. Who knows where 'Tone' will lead the noble British?