Tony Blair Biography

Tony Blair was born Anthony Charles Lynton Blair on 6 May 1953, in Edinburgh, Scotland, to Leo and Hazel Blair. He was raised in Durham, England, where he attended ‘The Chorister School’ from 1961 to 1966.

His father was a famous attorney who ran for the parliament as a Tory in 1963. After suffering a serious stroke, he had to abandon his political dreams. This drove his family into financial difficulties and Tony, who was only 10, learned to live through hardships.

After completing school, he attended ‘Fettes College,’ Edinburgh, where he performed rock music, drawing inspiration from the great musician Mick Jagger. He left ‘Fettes’ and went to ‘St John's College,’ Oxford, to study Law. At ‘St John's College,’ he joined the college rock band ‘Ugly Rumors.’

At Oxford, Blair’s association with Peter Thompson, a fellow student and priest, influenced and shaped his political and religious outlook. His interest in the political affairs germinated and he decided to actively participate in politics.

After completing his graduation in 1975, he entered ‘Lincoln's Inn,’ where he joined as an apprentice under Lord Chancellor, Alexander Irvine.

He stepped into the world of politics by joining the ‘Labour Party.’ In 1982, he was chosen to represent the party in the parliament for Beaconsfield District. Although he lost his first election, he was seen as a potential candidate. In 1983, he won the election, earning a seat in the parliament, representing Sedgefield District.

After the election, his hard work and dedication towards the party continued to impress the party members which fueled his political growth. In 1984, he was appointed as the assistant Treasury spokesman

As Treasury spokesman, one of his primary moves was opposing the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher. In 1987, he was promoted to the position of spokesman of Trade and Industry.

In 1988, he was made the Shadow Secretary of Energy by the Shadow ministry. The Shadow ministry is an alternative cabinet, comprising members from the opposition who keep a close eye on the policies and actions of the government.

When Neil Kinnock, the leader of the opposition, resigned in 1992, Blair was made the Shadow Home Secretary. He served under John Smith, the newly elected leader of the party.

In 1994, John Smith died of cardiac arrest, and Blair was elected as the Leader of the Opposition. He was also appointed to the Privy Council.

Following his election as the leader of the ‘Labour Party’ in the parliament, he proposed several policies pertaining to taxation, crimes, and education, along with various other reformative measures. In 1996, during one of Labour Party’s conferences, he mentioned “education, education, and education” as his top three priorities.

The unpopularity of Conservative leader John Major, in the wake of several scandals, proved advantageous for Blair. In the 1997 general elections, the ‘Labour Party’ achieved a sweeping victory over the Conservatives. On May 2, 1997, Blair was sworn in as the prime minister of the United Kingdom.

As the new PM, he raised the taxes, announced minimum wages, implemented new employment rights, introduced new rights for the homosexuals, and signed several treatises in his pursuit to unify Britain with the European Union.

Even in health and educational sectors, he introduced innumerable reforms, revoked many categories of welfare payments, implemented stringent anti-terrorism measures, and passed legislation pertaining to the issuance of identity cards to the citizens. He vested the police force with more power which consequently increased the number of punishable offences. He also made DNA recording mandatory.

His government undertook several initiatives to reduce the level of poverty and increase the number of social services in Britain. Poverty declined to a great extent and the overall health conditions of the people also improved during his tenure. Nearly 1.7 million under-paid workers were benefitted from his minimum wage policy and over two million people were rescued from poverty.

He also worked towards improving the environment. While addressing the United States Congress, he assured about 20% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. He also stated that by 2010 about 10% of the energy required by Britain would be obtained from renewable resources.

During his tenure, the United Kingdom participated in five major battles: (1) 1998, when England joined hands with the U.S to attack Iraq on the latter’s failure to comply with the UN on arms reduction, (2) 1999, ‘Kosovo War,’ (3) 2000, ‘Sierra Leone Civil War,’ (4) 2001, after the 9/11 terror strikes in the US, America declared ‘War on Terror’ and Britain joined hands with the US by sending troops to the battle against Afghanistan, and (5) 2003, when the US invaded Iraq, Britain supported the invasion wholeheartedly by sending troops.

His foreign policy, especially concerning the US, was severely criticized and his popularity as the PM started to plummet. However, his involvement in the ‘Northern Ireland Peace Process settlement’ garnered a lot of appreciation.

On June 7, 2001, he achieved a landslide victory in the general elections and was re-elected as the prime minister. He was re-elected to a third term on May 5, 2005.

Due to the rising casualties of British soldiers in the Iraq war, Blair's popularity dropped drastically and he was accused of misleading the Parliament. Also, the Labour Party's overall majority in the 2005 general election was reduced to 66. In view of this situation, Blair was forced to resign. On 27 June 2007, he handed over the leadership of the ‘Labour Party’ to Gordon Brown.

The day he resigned, he was appointed Special Envoy of the ‘Quartet on the Middle East.’ The Quartet comprises the United States, United Nations, European Union, and Russia. It was formed in 2002 in order to pacify the escalating conflict in the Middle East.

In 2007, he set up the ‘Tony Blair Sports Foundation’ in order to "increase childhood participation in sports activities, especially in the North East of England, where a larger portion of children are socially excluded, and to promote overall health and prevent childhood obesity."

After his retirement, he dedicated most of his time to charitable works. He also established the ‘Tony Blair Faith Foundation,’ a nonprofit organization, to promote understanding and tolerance among people belonging to different faiths.

In 2016, Blair established the ‘Tony Blair Institute’ to promote global outlooks by governments and organizations. He currently runs a non-profit organization called ‘Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.’

He is viewed as a criminal by many human rights activists, including Desmond Tutu, Harold Pinter, and Arundhati Roy who have demanded his trial in the ‘International Criminal Court’ for endorsing wars and invasions.

He was awarded the ‘Presidential Medal of Freedom’ by the US President George W. Bush on 13 January 2009 for his extensive support in the ‘War on Terror’ and also for playing a pivotal role in achieving peace in Northern Ireland.

On 13 September 2010, he was awarded the ‘Liberty Medal’ at the ‘National Constitution Center’ in Philadelphia by former US President Bill Clinton.

Tony Blair is known for his love of music, particularly rock and pop

Blair is an avid sports fan, especially of football

He supported Newcastle United and often attended matches to cheer on his team.

On 29 March 1980, Blair married Cherie Booth and the couple has four children.

Blair, who was an Anglican, converted to Catholicism in secret. This was revealed on December 22, 2007.

In 2010, he published his memoirs titled ‘A Journey’; within hours of its launch, the book became the fastest-selling autobiography of all time.