Premiership of Tony Blair

rdf:langString Premiership of Tony Blair

rdf:langString Blair in 2002

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rdf:langString Blair Premiership

rdf:langString Tony Blair's term as the prime minister of the United Kingdom began on 2 May 1997 when he accepted an invitation of Queen Elizabeth II to form a government, succeeding John Major of the Conservative Party, and ended on 27 June 2007 upon his resignation. While serving as prime minister, Blair also served as the first lord of the treasury, minister for the civil service and leader of the Labour Party. As prime minister, Blair used the term "New Labour" to distinguish his pro-market policies from the more socialist policies which the party had espoused in the past. Many of his policies reflected a centrist "Third Way" political philosophy. In domestic government policy, Blair significantly increased public spending on healthcare and education while also introducing controversial market-based reforms in these areas. In addition, Blair's tenure saw the introduction of a minimum wage, tuition fees for higher education, constitutional reform such as devolution in Scotland and Wales and progress in the Northern Ireland peace process. The UK economy performed well and the real incomes of Britons grew 18% during 1997–2006. Blair kept to Conservative commitments not to increase income tax in the first term although rates of employee's National Insurance (a payroll levy) were increased. He also presided over a significant expansion of the welfare state during his time in office, which led to a significant reduction in relative poverty. Blair's governments enacted constitutional reforms, removing most hereditary peers from the House of Lords, while also establishing the UK's Supreme Court and reforming the office of lord chancellor (thereby separating judicial powers from the legislative and executive branches). His government held referendums in which Scottish and Welsh electorates voted in favour of devolved administration, paving the way for the establishment of the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly in 1999. He was also involved in negotiating the Good Friday Agreement. His time in office occurred during a period of continued economic growth, but this became increasingly dependent on mounting debt. In 1997, his government gave the Bank of England powers to set interest rates autonomously, and he later oversaw a large increase in public spending, especially in healthcare and education. Blair championed multiculturalism and, between 1997 and 2007, immigration rose considerably, especially after his government welcomed immigration from the new EU member states in 2004. This provided a cheap and flexible labour supply but also fuelled Euroscepticism, especially among some of his party's core voters. His other social policies were generally progressive; he introduced the National Minimum Wage Act 1998, the Human Rights Act 1998, and the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and the Civil Partnership Act 2004. He declared himself tough on crime and oversaw increasing incarceration rates and new anti-social behaviour legislation, despite contradictory evidence about the change in crime rates. He was in office when the 7 July 2005 London bombings took place and introduced a range of anti-terror legislation. Blair oversaw British interventions in Kosovo in 1999 and Sierra Leone in 2000, which were generally perceived as successful. In 2003, Blair supported George W. Bush after he ordered an invasion of Iraq, alleging alongside Bush that the Saddam Hussein regime possessed weapons of mass destruction. Intense criticism came when neither WMD stockpiles nor evidence of an operational relationship with al-Qaeda were found. The Afghanistan and Iraq wars continued throughout the rest of Blair's premiership. In 2006, Blair announced that he would resign as prime minister and Labour leader within a year. He resigned on 27 June 2007 and was succeeded by Gordon Brown, who had been his chancellor of the Exchequer since 1997. At various points in his premiership, Blair was among both the most popular and unpopular prime ministers in UK history. He received the highest recorded approval ratings during his first few years in office, but also one of the lowest such ratings during the Iraq War. Blair had notable electoral successes and reforms, though his legacy remains controversial largely due to the Iraq War and his relationship with Bush.

rdf:langString Prime Minister of the United Kingdom