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|religion=[[Roman Catholic]]

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'''Anthony Charles Lynton Blair''', more commonly known as '''Tony Blair''', (born May 6, 1953) is a former [[Prime Minister]] of the [[United Kingdom]]. The [[Labour Party]]'s longest-serving Prime Minister, he served from May 2, 1997 to June 27, 2007, succeeding the Conservative Party's [[John Major]] and preceding [[Gordon Brown]]. Blair is also the only person to have led the Labour Party to three consecutive general election victories, and the only Labour Prime Minister to serve more than one full consecutive term.

'''Tony Blair''', (born Anthony Charles Lynton Blair, May 6, 1953) is a former [[Prime Minister]] of the [[United Kingdom]]. The [[Labour Party]]'s longest-serving Prime Minister, he served from May 2, 1997 to June 27, 2007, succeeding the Conservative Party's [[John Major]] and preceding [[Gordon Brown]]. Blair is also the only person to have led the Labour Party to three consecutive general election victories, and the only Labour Prime Minister to serve more than one full consecutive term. He abandoned most of the leftover leftist ideas in the parties, endorsed the market solutions promulgated by [[Conservative Party]] Prome Minister [[Margaret Thatcher]] in the 1980s, and, as a close ally of the United States under [[Bill Clinton]] and [[George W. Bush]], he strongly endorsed the invasion of Iraq in 2003.  

 

He was elected to the Labour Party leadership in 1994 following the unexpected death of his predecessor, John Smith. As well as being leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister, Blair also served as the [[Member of Parliament|MP]] for Sedgefield, a constituency in [[County Durham]] in north-east England.

 

While the Labour Party is a self-described "democratic, [[socialist]] party"<ref>[http://www.labour.org.uk/how_we_work Labour: How we work]</ref>, Blair coined the phrases "[[New Labour]]" and "[[The Third Way]]" to distinguish his own pro-[[business]] policies from the more [[collectivist]] platform of his predecessors. He was criticized by some more left-wing members of the Labour Party for "selling out" to conservative thinking, particularly in his support for the [[United States]] in the [[Iraq War]]. On the other hand, Blair's policies were decidedly [[liberal]] by American standards: they have included increases in taxation, increases in government spending (particularly on public schools and Britain's [[National Health Service|public healthcare system]]), the introduction and subsequent increases of a minimum wage, and support for equal rights for gay people.

 

 

== Personal ==

== Personal ==

The son of a barrister and lecturer Leo Blair, Tony Blair was born in [[Edinburgh]], but spent most of his childhood in Durham. At the age of 14 he returned to Edinburgh to finish his education at Fettes College. Blair was known as a cheeky, rebellious, and argumentative schoolboy, and at 17 he was threatened with expulsion for persistently breaking school rules.<ref name="bbc">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6506365.stm The Tony Blair Story] BBC News 10 May 2007</ref>. After leaving Fettes with three A levels he studied law at [[Oxford University]], and went on to become a barrister (Lincoln's Inn) himself, before entering politics. Blair married his wife, [[Liverpool]]-born Cherie Booth QC a barrister and daughter of the actor Tony Booth, in 1980, and they have four children.

The son of a barrister and lecturer Leo Blair, Tony Blair was born in [[Edinburgh]], but spent most of his childhood in Durham. At the age of 14 he returned to Edinburgh to finish his education at Fettes College. Blair was known as a cheeky, rebellious, and argumentative schoolboy, and at 17 he was threatened with expulsion for persistently breaking school rules.<ref name="bbc">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6506365.stm The Tony Blair Story] BBC News 10 May 2007</ref>. After leaving Fettes with three A levels he studied law at [[Oxford University]], and went on to become a barrister (Lincoln's Inn) himself, before entering politics. Blair married his wife, [[Liverpool]]-born Cherie Booth QC a barrister and daughter of the actor Tony Booth, in 1980, and they have four children.

While Blair rarely discusses his religious faith in public - and had been advised by his spokesman Alistair Campbell that "<i>We don't do God, Mate</i>" <ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2003/05/05/dl0501.xml A Question of Faith] Daily Telegraph 5 May 2003</ref> - he is a convinced Christian<!--This needs to be examined: I think that he was criticized more because he often acted hypocritically, choosing to portray himself as a religious man only when it suited his political diary, a fact for which he is often criticised or mocked by British commentators-->. His wife Cherie is a Catholic and Blair converted to Catholicism in 2007.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7157409.stm Tony Blair joins Catholic Church] BBC News 22 December 2007</ref>

While Blair rarely discusses his religious faith in public - and had been advised by his spokesman Alistair Campbell that "<i>We don't do God, Mate</i>" <ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2003/05/05/dl0501.xml A Question of Faith] Daily Telegraph 5 May 2003</ref> - he is a convinced Christian<!--This needs to be examined: I think that he was criticized more because he often acted hypocritically, choosing to portray himself as a religious man only when it suited his political diary, a fact for which he is often criticised or mocked by British commentators-->. His wife Cherie is a Catholic and Blair converted to Catholicism in 2007.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7157409.stm Tony Blair joins Catholic Church] BBC News 22 December 2007</ref>

==Blair's political career==

==Blair's political career==

A combination of the Labour Party's new-found moderation, Blair's personal popularity and the deep unpopularity of the Conservatives under [[John Major]] resulted in a landslide victory for Blair and his party in the 1997 general [[election]], ending 18 years of [[Conservative]] government. Labour easily won re-election in 2001 and in 2005, although with losses.

A combination of the Labour Party's new-found moderation, Blair's personal popularity and the deep unpopularity of the Conservatives under [[John Major]] resulted in a landslide victory for Blair and his party in the 1997 general [[election]], ending 18 years of [[Conservative]] government. Labour easily won re-election in 2001 and in 2005, although with losses.

In December 2006, Blair became the first active Prime Minister to be interviewed in a police investigation, <ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/6292033.stm Honours police quizzed McConnell] BBC News 23 January 2007</ref> and again in January 2007<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6320399.stm Blair interviewed again by police] BBC News 1 February 2007</ref>, over allegations he had illegally ''nominated'' donors to the Labour Party for peerages - the so called "Cash for Honours" scandal. The government stressed that he was being interviewed only as a witness however, and the nominations of the money lenders were rejected by the independent appointments' commission.<ref name="bbc" /> However the allegations were a popular story in the media, and dogged his final months in office. Tony Blair was superseded by [[Gordon Brown]] as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in June 2007.

While the Labour Party is a self-described "democratic, [[socialist]] party"<ref>[http://www.labour.org.uk/how_we_work Labour: How we work]</ref>, Blair coined the phrases "[[New Labour]]" and "[[The Third Way]]" to distinguish his own pro-[[business]] policies from the more [[collectivist]] platform of his predecessors. He was criticized by some more left-wing members of the Labour Party for "selling out" to conservative thinking, particularly in his support for the [[United States]] in the [[Iraq War]]. On the other hand, Blair's policies were decidedly [[liberal]] by American standards: they have included increases in taxation, increases in government spending (particularly on public schools and Britain's [[National Health Service|public healthcare system]]), the introduction and subsequent increases of a minimum wage, and support for equal rights for gay people.

==Blair's policies==

==Blair's policies==