Blair Tony. Biography

The end of the 20th century was a time of unprecedented strengthening of US influence in world politics, a period of constant local conflicts throughout the world. The role of the former great European powers was declining, and just at this time, the years of the reign of Anthony Blair fell. He became the youngest leader of the youngest Prime Minister of Great Britain. Having managed to win elections for three terms in a row, Anthony Blair, short biography which will be described below, became one of the most long-term leaders of the country. For his political vitality, he was nicknamed "Teflon Tony".

School and student years. Anthony Blair, biography

1953 was marked by the birth of one of the most popular and at the same time despised British politicians. The birthplace of the future leader of the country was the Scottish Edinburgh. Tony Blair's parents were real respectable Britons. Leo's father Charles Linton Blair was a lawyer, also involved in politics and even put forward his candidacy for parliament. However, he was suddenly struck by an apoplexy, and his son had to realize his political ambitions.

Tony Blair received a privileged education, first at a private chorister school at Durham Cathedral, then at the prestigious Fettes College in Edinburgh. Interestingly, one of his childhood classmates was whom most viewers know as Mr. Bean.

Tony Blair was not the most exemplary student, he defiantly ignored school uniform, disrupted the lessons. As a fan of Mick Jaeger, he loved rock music and played in an amateur band.

The son of a respectable conservative and lawyer, of course, could not help but continue the work of his father. The next step in Blair's education was the University of Oxford. However, before that, he went to London and tried his luck as a rock musician.

While studying law at St. John's College, Oxford, Anthony Blair also performed in the rock band Ugly Rumours. Having studied far from brilliantly, in 1975 he nevertheless received a diploma of the second degree and became a lawyer.

The beginning of a political career

After graduating from Oxford, he began his labor activity Anthony Blair. Interesting facts, although not entirely confirmed, suggest that he did not work long in one of the bars in Paris. Then, nevertheless, the rebel devoted himself to a legal career. In 1975 he taught law, in 1976 he joined the bar and took a job in the office of Dani Irving, a close friend of John Smith, who was the leader of the Labor Party in those years.

This acquaintance predetermined the political sympathies of Blair, who joined the ranks of the British Socialist Party. The young lawyer became actively involved in the activities of the Laborites, and soon put forward his candidacy for parliament.

His first attempt in 1982 ended in failure. However, Anthony Blair did not lose heart and ran again a year later, this time from the newly created Sedgefield district.

Despite his conservative father and upbringing, the politician in his younger years professed pronounced leftist views. During the election campaign, he preached nuclear disarmament, the exit of Britain from the European economic space.

Nevertheless, once in Parliament, Anthony Blair tempered his ardor and joined the bloc of right-wing Laborites. He led an active political activity, held posts in shadow offices, led his column in The Times.

Leader and executioner of British socialism

In 1989, Anthony Blair, whose policies began to win the sympathy of an increasing number of voters, becomes a member of the National Executive Committee of the Labor Party. He becomes closer and closer to the leader John Smith and soon receives the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs in the shadow cabinet.

One of the most important issues, Anthony Blair considered a change in the course of the party to a less radical one. He campaigned for the weakening of ties with trade unions, the removal of the most odious leftist slogans from the party program.

In 1994, John Smith had an unexpected death. Despite the fact that Gordon Brown was considered a likely successor, however, he withdrew from the struggle for leadership. Anthony Blair was elected leader of the Labor Party by a majority vote.

Having become the head of the party, he began to implement his ideas of reform within the organization. He created a rigid centralized structure, ending the existence of factions and divisions within. At the same time, he tried to make the ideas of the party more attractive to the mainstream voters, increasingly shying away from leftist ideas.

A vivid example of this was the exclusion of the odious left-wing radical item in the program of the British socialists, which proclaimed collective ownership of the means of production and distribution.

First election to the post of prime minister

Having done away with the "shameful remnants of Marxism" in his party, Anthony Blair became one of the most popular politicians in the country, skillfully maneuvering between adherents of conservatism and supporters of liberal ideas. Labor won the 1997 election by a landslide. The 73rd became the youngest leader in the history of the country.

Having become the head of the state, the politician began to realize his election promises.

He continued the previous government's cost-cutting policies. Having drastically changed his views over many years in politics, Anthony Blair began to advocate closer rapprochement with the European Union.

He also kept his promise to the supporters of the autonomy of Scotland and Wales, and held referendums in these parts of the UK on greater decentralization and strengthening the influence of local parliaments.

Foreign policy under Tony Blair was the time of the loss of the last remnants of the independence and independence of the United Kingdom. Great Britain automatically supports any US initiatives, becoming a true ally of the overseas power. For example, during the Kosovo conflict in 1999, Tony Blair promptly authorized the dispatch of several thousand British soldiers to the former Yugoslavia.

New Labor

Having finally dealt with all sorts of remnants of socialism within the party, the Prime Minister proclaimed the policy of "new laborism." According to him, it had to combine and reconcile the elements of free market capitalism and the ideas of social equality and justice.

The main ideologist and creator of this program was Blair's associate and Treasury Secretary Gordon Brown. In particular, much attention was paid to the problems of equality between men and women. The Laborites set themselves the task of equalizing wages, reducing the bias towards the male part of the population.

After the signing of the Union, the UK introduced a three-week paid leave for workers, and soon four weeks.

Did not leave Anthony Blair out of his attention and general education. The reforms included the reorientation of schools for the future professional education schoolchildren, relying on the individual abilities of students.

Peacekeeping activities

The main pain point and threat to the integrity of the country for Britain has always been Northern Ireland. Anthony Blair became active on this front.

In 1997, he met several times with Gerry Adams, who represented the political forces of the hardline Irish Republican Army. The negotiations resulted in the signing of the Belfast Agreement in 1998. According to it, the National Assembly of Northern Ireland was created, which was supposed to take on significant functions of the central government.

Using its traditional influence on the Irish, the United States actively participated in these initiatives. In doing so, they further strengthened Britain's dependence on the White House.

The second term of "Teflon Tony"

The end of the nineties and the beginning of the 2000s was the heyday of the economy of the entire Western world, including Great Britain. On the wave of general prosperity, Labor won the 2001 elections without any problems, and Anthony Blair went to his second term as head of state.

This period was a serious test for the unsinkable politician. In 2001, Blair unconditionally supported the US military operation against the Taliban in Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks. The navy and ground forces of the United Kingdom were attached to help the ally.

A year later, Anthony Blair began to actively persuade parliament to approve a military operation against Iraq. If the operation against obvious terrorists in Afghanistan was still somehow supported by the population, then the possible participation in the actual occupation of a sovereign state caused a serious split in society. Anthony Blair began to rapidly lose popularity with the British.

In response, Anthony Blair began to frighten with the potential threat of the use of force by Iraq, evidence was presented to the public that Saddam Hussein had numerous stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction.

Parliament was persuaded, and 45,000 British soldiers were sent to help the American military.

A huge scandal erupted after the publication of a revealing investigation by BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan, which claimed that intelligence information about Hussein's WMD caches was falsified.

By initiating an investigation, Anthony Blair achieved an acquittal by a special commission headed by Lord Butler. However, the reputation of the politician was greatly tarnished, he looked more and more like a resigned puppet of the White House in the eyes of the people.

Last years as prime minister

The Laborites won the 2005 elections with great difficulty, leaving at their traditional points - health care, social policy, education. Very strongly Tony Blair came back to haunt the bloody war in Iraq, which led to anarchy and civil strife in this Arab state.

Nevertheless, the prime minister was in a combative mood and was not going to give up, declaring that he would only resign at the end of his term.

Passions were seething, lost solidity and unity among the Laborites themselves. More and more party supporters expressed their dissatisfaction with Blair and demanded the appointment of Gordon Brown. Numerous anti-corruption revelations among the Labor leadership added fuel to the fire. Things got to the point that Anthony Blair himself was under the storm of litigation.

Unable to withstand the hard pressure, in 2007 "Teflon Tony" resigned, appointing Gordon Brown as his successor.

Further activities

After leaving the post of prime minister, Blair did not finish his political activities. He was appointed special envoy of the group of big powers to resolve the situation in the Middle East.

In addition, he becomes an advisor to numerous corporations and financial groups. Among them are JPMorgan Chase, Zurich Financial.

The former prime minister also noted for his consultations with Nursultan Nazarbayev on reforms in the economy of Kazakhstan.

Politician's family

Tony Blair married in 1980 colleague and Labor Party colleague Sherri Booth. Out of love for his wife, he even changed his religion, and turned from an Anglican into a Catholic. During the marriage, the couple raised three children - Ewan, Nikki, Leo.

By the way, Blair became the first British Prime Minister in 150 years to become a father as head of state.

"Teflon Tony" became one of Britain's most enduring leaders. For ten years, many areas of life in the United Kingdom have been reformed. He was loved and hated in equal measure, but the fact remains that Blair has become one of the last flamboyant politicians on the European scene.

Anthony Charles Linton Blair was born on May 6, 1953 in Edinburgh, Scotland in the family of a lawyer, graduated from two colleges - in Edinburgh and Oxford (St. John's College Oxford). As a child, he lived in Australia for three years.

Educated at the privileged private secondary school Fettes College in Edinburgh, then at St. John's College, Oxford University. Law specialist. During his studies, he joined the Labor Party. After graduating from college, Tony went to Paris, where for the sake of "knowledge of life" he worked for a year as a bartender.

In 1983 he took his newly created seat in Parliament representing Sidgefield, a mining region to the north. Actively involved in the party struggle, the future prime minister was engaged in journalism and in 1987-1988 led his own column in The Times. Career quickly went up the hill, and in 1992 Blair was elected to the party's executive committee.

An active and ambitious politician, Blair found himself in the endless battles and intrigues of the sophisticated political beau monde of foggy Albion. He quickly walked up the steps of the party hierarchy. July 21, 1994 Tony Blair, after 11 years of parliamentary activity, becomes the youngest leader of the Labor Party in its history. Then he was only 41 years old.

The Labor Party had by then been in opposition for 18 years. Blair is a politician of a new wave and new views on how the UK should enter the new millennium. He became the ideal political leader for the Labor Party, largely deciding the outcome of the 1997 parliamentary elections in favor of his party.

Blair was elected by a landslide, a victory the British Social Democrats had not seen in a century.

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In the family of a lawyer. As a child, he lived in Australia for three years.

He graduated from two colleges - in Edinburgh (at the privileged private high school Fettes College) and Oxford (St. John's Oxford College). He studied law at Oxford. During his studies, he joined the Labor Party. After graduating from college, Tony went to Paris, where, for the sake of "knowledge of life", he worked for a year as a bartender.

It is known that while studying at school, the classmate of the future prime minister was "Mr. Bean" Rowan Atkinson himself.

Start of political activity

In 1975, after graduating from university, he taught law at Oxford, after which he began working in the law office of Darry Irwin, a close friend, one of the leaders of the Labor Party, John Smith, under whose influence Tony Blair began political activity. In 1983 he took his newly created seat in Parliament representing Sidgefield, a mining region to the north. Actively involved in the party struggle, the future prime minister was engaged in journalism and in 1987-1988 led his own column in The Times. Career quickly went up the hill, and in 1992 Blair was elected to the party's executive committee.

At the head of the party

An active and ambitious politician, Blair moved quickly through the ranks of the party hierarchy. July 21, 1994 Tony Blair, after 11 years of parliamentary activity, becomes the youngest leader of the Labor Party in its history. Then he was only 41 years old.

Blair became the ideal political leader for the Labor Party, largely deciding the outcome of the 1997 parliamentary elections in favor of his party.

Premiership

Blair was elected by a landslide, a victory the British Social Democrats had not seen in a century. As Prime Minister of Great Britain, following the results of the 1997 elections, he replaced the conservative John Major, thus interrupting the 18-year period of rule of the Tory party.

Since May 2, 1997 - Prime Minister of Great Britain. He was re-elected in the elections of 2001 and 2005.

On May 10, 2007, Tony Blair announced that on June 27 he would submit his resignation to the Queen as Prime Minister. Blair's predetermined successor was the Scottish Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown.

Known as the most loyal prime minister to the United States

Social politics

The New Labour's social transformation program was aimed at ensuring and maintaining social justice and the stability of British society. The theoretical basis for the modernization of the country was the concept of the "Third Way" developed by Tony Blair's chief adviser Anthony Giddens. The "third way", according to Blair, is the search for an alternative, a compromise and a combination of two elements: a market economy and universal social justice, combined with increased attention to the human factor.

One of the main vectors in the social policy of the "new Laborites" was the gender program, which was based on the need for equality in society, which would contribute to sustainable democratic development. Laborites focused their attention on the problem of women's employment and the problem of gender inequality in the labor market, which is most evident in the wage gap between the male and female population (in 1997, women's hourly earnings amounted to 80.2% of men's hourly earnings, and in 2004 they rose to 82%.

In 1997, after the signing of the EU Social Charter, the UK announced new directions in social policy. Thus, British workers received the right to three weeks' paid leave, and since 1999 - four weeks; It was decided that the duration of overtime work from now on should not exceed 8 hours.

In 2003, the government created the post of Minister for Children, Youth and Families with a wide range of powers. As a result, local governments were required to provide needed help families with children, especially disadvantaged ones. In March 2004, the Children's Bill was adopted, which meant ensuring a decent standard of living for children, as well as measures to provide them with sufficient assistance. Moreover, child benefits for low-income families have been increased (in 2004, benefits for the first child were £16.50 per week, for each subsequent child - £11.05) and allocated £6 billion. Art. to combat child poverty. Also, for children living in the poorest areas of the UK, the Sure Start program was developed, which involved the creation of a nursery, visits by teachers to poor families with small children, and informing parents on child education.

Tony Blair was born in Edinburgh, Scotland into a lawyer's family. As a child, he lived in Australia for three years.

It is known that while studying at school, the classmate of the future prime minister was "Mr. Bean" Rowan Atkinson himself.

Start of political activity

At the head of the party

Blair became the ideal political leader for the Labor Party, largely deciding the outcome of the 1997 parliamentary elections in favor of his party.

Premiership

Since May 2, 1997 - Prime Minister of Great Britain. He was re-elected in the elections of 2001 and 2005.

Known as the most loyal prime minister to the United States

Social politics

The New Labour's social transformation program was aimed at ensuring and maintaining social justice and the stability of British society. The theoretical basis for the modernization of the country was the concept of the "Third Way", developed by Tony Blair's chief adviser Anthony Giddens. The "third way", according to Blair, is the search for an alternative, a compromise and a combination of two elements: a market economy and universal social justice, combined with increased attention to the human factor.

In 2003, the Government created the post of Minister for Children, Youth and Families with a wide range of powers. As a result, local authorities were obliged to provide the necessary assistance to families with children, especially disadvantaged ones. In March 2004, the Children's Bill was adopted, which included ensuring a decent standard of living for children, as well as measures to provide them with sufficient assistance. Moreover, child benefits for low-income families have been increased (in 2004, benefits for the first child were £16.50 per week, for each subsequent child - £11.05) and allocated £6 billion. Art. to combat child poverty. Also, for children living in the poorest areas of the UK, the Sure Start program was developed, which involved the creation of a nursery, visits by teachers to poor families with small children, and informing parents on child education.

In 1998, Blair developed a new program for the development of education. A revision of school programs was announced with an emphasis on the individual abilities of children and a focus on their future professional activity. The educational reform was accompanied by the introduction of an additional fee in the amount of 1 thousand pounds in the universities of Wales and England. Art. (“mentoring fee”); Scotland has abandoned this innovation. In 2000, it was decided to set a course for each school to have a certain specialization, in other words, its own "ethos". In addition, the UK was divided into 25 regional educational action areas (Education action areas) and for each was allocated 750 thousand pounds. Art.

Sierra Leone

In 2000, Tony Blair sent 1,500 British troops to Sierra Leone to take over the defense of the country's capital, Freetown, from the rebel army of the Revolutionary United Front.

On May 30, 2007, Tony Blair was solemnly proclaimed Paramount Chief of Sierra Leone. The new title formally gives Tony Blair the right to sit in the Parliament of Sierra Leone. Thus, according to The Daily Telegraph, the country's authorities noted his role in stopping civil war.

After resignation

On the day of his resignation, June 27, 2007, he was appointed Special Envoy for Peace of the Quartet for the Middle East settlement.

In January 2008, he was appointed Senior Advisor and Member of the International Affairs Board of JPMorgan Chase. Blair also works as an advisor to the financial group Zurich Financial.

Since January 2010, he has been working for the French group of companies LVMH, where he will hold the position of personal adviser to the owner of the French group, Bernard Arnault.

In October 2011, it was announced that Tony Blair would lead a group of advisers on economic issues to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev.

A family

They met in the late 1970s in Paris. They have three sons (Ewen, Nicky and Leo) and a daughter, Katherine. The last child - Leo - was born on May 20, 2000.

Awards

Presidential Medal of Freedom (USA, January 2009)

Was a classmate of famous actor Rowan Atkinson

Tony Blair, who took office on May 2, 1997, became the youngest head of the British government since 1812. He ended 18 years of Conservative rule in the UK and secured the ruling position of Labor.

During his years in office, Prime Minister Blair has carried out very successful reforms in the field of health care, school education and the labor market. Under him, the UK economy entered a stage of sustainable growth, and almost 3 million new jobs have appeared in the country over the past decade.

In 1997, in his first year as prime minister, Blair followed through on a promise to hold referendums in Scotland and Wales to transfer some of the functions of the central government to the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly.

Tony Blair's indisputable achievement was the settlement in Ulster. In October 1997, Blair met with Gerry Adams, leader of the political wing of Sinn Féin's Irish Republican Army. In April 1998, decades of warring Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland signed the Good Friday Agreement, paving the way for a further peace process. And in the fall of 2006, the warring parties came to a historic agreement on the creation of a single government, which will begin its work on May 15, 2007. On May 8, 2007, Tony Blair said he considered it a matter of honor to complete "on a high note" the process of forming his own authorities in Ulster, which began in the first year of his premiership.

In 1997 Blair granted independence to the Bank of England, which received the right to independently, without consulting the government, set interest rates.

May 1998 A successful referendum was held to establish an assembly for London and an elected mayor of the capital.

In 1999 The government of Tony Blair carried out a radical reform that changed the system that had existed for centuries to form the upper house of the British Parliament. The reform of the House of Lords reduced the number of hereditary peers to 92.

In January 2004 Blair managed to get a package of educational reform bills through Parliament.

After the terrorist attacks in London July 7, 2005 Blair promised not to allow the slightest concession to terrorism, which earned him the support of citizens.

November 2005 Blair's impeachment movement unfolded in the Labor faction in parliament: the prime minister's actions before the Iraq war, when, according to critics, he deliberately misled parliament, served as the basis.

February 2006 Blair failed in Parliament: his proposed bill to criminalize incitement to racial hatred was defeated by a one-vote majority.

In 2006 year demands for Blair's resignation became louder in connection with a whole series of scandals. In March 2006, it emerged that some wealthy entrepreneurs who had made large secret loans to the Labor Party had received seats in the House of Lords, knighthoods or other titles. This scandal, the journalists called "money in exchange for titles." Some people from the prime minister's inner circle were involved in a high-profile scandal, including Lord Levy, who was in charge of collecting donations in the party. Tony Blair himself was forced to testify in this case to the police, becoming the first sitting head of government in British history to be interrogated by Scotland Yard.

In foreign policy Great Britain during the first term of Blair, the main event was the participation of the country in the Kosovo conflict. Several thousand British troops were sent to the region as part of the peacekeeping force.

March 2000 Blair became the first leader of a Western country to visit Vladimir Putin, who was elected president of the Russian Federation, in Moscow.

In January 2003 Blair released information according to which Iraq continued to create a chemical and biological weapons, hatched plans for their use. He announced the need for a speedy solution to the problem of Iraq's disarmament and traveled to European countries, agitating for the overthrow of Hussein.

March 19, 2003 Britain has sent 45,000 troops to the US-led "goodwill coalition" to invade Iraq. Blair spoke to reporters in defense of his decision to participate in the Iraqi campaign.

March 2006 Blair was criticized by anti-war activists for his statement that the decision to go to war with Iraq would be ultimately judged by God alone.

He argued that if the circumstances were the same as in 2003, he would again decide to start the war.

In the middle of May 2007 it is expected that Tony Blair will announce his resignation as leader of the Labor Party, and after the election of a new leader, presumably at the end of June 2007, he will transfer to him the powers of prime minister.

May 2007 There have been reports that Tony Blair intends to try himself as an actor in a play about the dangers of extremism after his retirement.