
.
.Tony
BLAIR
Anthony Charles Lynton "Tony"
Blair (born 6 May 1953) is
a British Labour politician who served as the Prime Minister of
the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the
Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader
of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007; he resigned from all these
positions in June 2007.
Tony Blair was elected Leader of
the Labour Party in the leadership election of July 1994,
following the sudden death of his predecessor, John Smith.
Under
his leadership, the party adopted the term "New Labour" and moved
away from its traditional left wing position towards the centre
ground. Blair subsequently led Labour to a landslide victory in
the 1997 general election.
At 43 years old, he became the youngest
Prime Minister since 1812. In the first years of the New Labour
government, Blair's government implemented a number of 1997
manifesto pledges, introducing the minimum wage, Human Rights Act
and Freedom of Information Act; and carrying out regional
devolution, establishing the Scottish Parliament, the National
Assembly for Wales, and the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Blair's role as Prime Minister was
particularly visible in foreign and security policy, including in
Northern Ireland, where he was involved in the 1998 Good Friday
Agreement.
From the start of the War on Terror in 2001, Blair
strongly supported United States foreign policy, notably by
participating in the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan and 2003
invasion of Iraq. In his first six years, Blair had British troops
ordered into battle five times — more than any other prime
minister in British history.
Blair is the Labour Party's
longest-serving Prime Minister; the only person to have led the
Labour Party to three consecutive general election victories; and
the only Labour Prime Minister to serve consecutive terms, more
than one of which was at least four years long. He was succeeded
as Leader of the Labour Party on 24 June 2007 and as Prime
Minister on 27 June 2007 by
Gordon Brown, who was Chancellor of the Exchequer.
On the day
he resigned as Prime Minister, he was appointed the official Envoy
of the Quartet on the Middle East on behalf of the United Nations,
the European Union, the United States, and Russia.
In May 2008, Blair launched his
Tony Blair Faith Foundation. This was followed in July 2009 by the
launching of the Faith and Globalisation Initiative with
Yale University in the USA, Durham University in the UK and
National University of Singapore in Asia to deliver a postgraduate
programme in partnership with the Foundation.
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