Inspiring People

Tony Blair

Some of the qualities of Tony Blair are that he has shown great courage and confidence.

Anthony Charles Lynton Blair aka Tony Blair was born 6th May 1953 in Edinburgh, Scotland.

He was educated at St. John's College, Oxford, where he obtained a law degree. He joined the Labour Party after graduation.

From 2nd May 1997 through to 27th June 2007 Blair served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and was the leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007.

Blair became elected as leader of the Labour Party in July 1994 after the death of former leader John Smith, and Gordon Brown fellow shadow cabinet member became Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Labour went on to win the general election in 1997, previously ruled by the Conservative Party for 18 years. Blair then led the Labour Party to win a further two consecutive elections.

Mr. Blair's government pushed through a series of major domestic reforms during 2001 to 2004, including increased investment in public services, especially health, education and transport.

In July 2005, Tony Blair chaired the G8 summit at Gleneagles. The two biggest issues discussed were climate change and Africa. G8 nations agreed to cancel the debts of 18 countries and to a $50 billion (£28.8 billion) boost to aid.

In 2006, Mr. Blair declared that the "IRA's campaign is over" after the publication of a report by the Independent Monitoring Commission. In May 2007, a new executive in took power in Northern Ireland, almost five years after the previous institutions were suspended.

Tony Blair announced his resignation on 10 May 2007 and left office on 27th June 2007, to be succeeded by Gordon Brown. He continues to be interested in inter-faith issues and the promotion of inter-faith understanding.