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-full Name: Anthony Charles Lynton Blair
-youngest Prime Minister since 1812
-longest serving labour Prime Minister
-> 10-years tenure was the second longest continuous period after Margaret Thatchers in more than 150 years
-Prime Minister from 1997-2007
-Leader of the Labour Party (1994-2007)
-Special Envoy of the Quartet on the Middle East (2007-2015)
-supporter of free market politics and the EU
-Currently: Executive Chairman on the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change
-Honours:

Privy Councillor(1994)

Congressional Gold Medal (2003)

Honorary Doctor of Law (LL.D.) from Queen's University Belfast (2008)

Presidential Medal of Freedom (2009)

Dan David Prize (2009)

Liberty Medal (2010)

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-born in Edinburgh(6 may 1953)
- son of a barrister
- attended the independent school "fetes college" and studied law at St. Johns  College, Oxford (1975)
-> barrister, specializing in employment & commercial law
- became involved in labour politics-> little enthusiasm for politics until he met his future wife - Cherie Booth
- elected Member of Parliament for Sedgefield(1983-1988)
-> attempt to regain power, move labour to the political center and deemphasize its traditional advocacy of state control and public ownership
- appointed to the party's frontbench(1988)
-appointed Home Secretary by former Labour leader John Smith (1992)
-after Smith sudden death-> leader of the Opposition(1994)
-1995: revamped labour platform -> abandoned the stated commitment to the nationalization of the economy (modified the party's constitution)
-reduced links with trade unions, obtained unprecedented commitments to free enterprises, anti inflationary politics, aggressiv crime prevention, support Britains integration into the EU
-1995: defeated the Conservatives (municipal elections)
-1997:won the general elections- campaign centered "things can only get better"

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-economy growth
-morde independent Bank of England
-preserved much of Thatcher's market radicalism -> with greater emphasis to social justice
-minority groups found his government more sympathetic -> notably gays; allowed to enter into civil partnerships recognized by the law
-joined EU Charter
-"new labour"-> modified the party's constitution
-restoring peace to northern Ireland
-involved in the Iraq War
-London bombings of 2005
-> 7/7/2005 series of suicide attacks by homegrown terrorists on Londons public transport network - many blame Blair for the attacks following his way of handling the Iraq conflict
- he said: "When they try to intimidate us, we will not be intimidated. When they seek to change our country or our way of life by these methods, we will not be changed. The purpose of terrorism is just that. It is to terrorise people and we will not be terrorised. This is a very sad day for the British people but we will hold true to the British way of life."

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greatest accomplishment -> restoring peace to northern Ireland (1968-1998) 

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greatest accomplishment -> restoring peace to northern Ireland (1968-1998) 

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-10. April 1998 "Good Friday agreement" or "The Balfast agreement"
-> peace agreement between the British, Irish governments and most of northern irelands political parties on how Northern Ireland should be governed
-Blair said: "the hand of history is on our shoulders"
-efforts were sabotaged in 2002 by rancorous distrusts, aggravated by decades of parliamentary violence -> later came to the conclusion that for a deal to stick it had to involve both the democratic and the republicans side
--> Blairs enthusiasm for face to face diplomacy and deal making, refusal to abdandon the process in its darker moments made it possible

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Tony Blair reflects on his role in the Northern Ireland peace process August 2010 BBC

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Greatest failure -> Iraq War (2003-2011)

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Greatest failure -> Iraq War (2003-2011)

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-invasion of Iraq led by US and British forces
-179 British soldiers died between 2003 and 2009
-In 2001 following the al-Qaida attacks on America, Tony Blair told President Bush he could: "count on Britain"
-Bush wanted to invade Iraq quickly but Blair persuaded him to seek approval from the UN
-> International law: a forge in regime can only be overthrown in an act of self defense
-the British intelligence dossier claimed that the regime had "beyond doubt" continued to produce chemical and biological weapons -> UN inspectors found nothing
-UK attoney general Lord Goldsmith Blair in 2003 that an attack on Iraq could be legal without seeking further UN authority
-more than a million people marched against the upcoming war in London
-by march, Blair had decided that Britain and America didn't need any further UN resolutions
-> with a rousing speech, he received the support of the House of Commons
-> 2. days later a coalition force including British troops began "Operation Iraqi Freedom"
-led to the death of hundreds of thousand people and millions of Iraqis were displaced
-the "Chilcot inquiry" or "Iraq inquiry" portays the role of the UK in the Iraq war

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Was Tony Blair To Blame For The Iraq War?

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-not a supporter of the Brexit -> fights against it
-supportive towards the European integration
-committed to the concept of British expectionalism -> one nation can be regarded differently from other members of international society because of their own specific values, which could be a model for other nations)
-In 2000: he gave a speech where he made clear that there is a need for modernization and the EU would be the key tool for realizing it
-constantly supported British further integration to the EU
-had a special relationship with the US
->justified world led by the US, where Europe would be determined through alliance with the US due to security requirements -> caused tensions between him and other politicians from continental Europe
-Angela Merkel opposed him being the first president of the European council

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-up-and-down friendship
-Tony Blair did not like partaking in royal traditions
-he and his wife would often break royal etiquette
-different interests: Blair likes city holidays, Queen loves the countryside
-his wife didn't curtsey to Elizabeth on her first visit to Balmoral (1997) -> Blairs wife had lack of respect towards the Queen --> while attending the Braemar Highland games in 2003, she yawned 1 feet away from the Queen
-Queen declined to call him TONY
-Queen was surprised that Blair was the first of her 10MPs to alter the day of their weekly audiences at Buckingham palace

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-resigned his seat in the House of Commons (2007)
-selected by the "Quartet" -(US, Russia, EU, UN) to serve as a special envoy to the Middle East (-2015)
-return to politics in 2017 -> he founded the "Tony Blair Institute for global change"
-> Institute published a policy paper outlining steps the British government could undertake (concerning immigration) that would not require to leave the EU

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-religious (often read the bible before making important decisions)
-allegations of extramarital affair with Wendi Dang (Blair denied the allegations)
-in his youth he acted in plays and sang in a rock band
-likes: the city, holidays in Barbados, tennis, football

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-he appeared in several TV shows
-The Simpsons Episode "The Regina Monologues" (2003)
-Amazing Mrs Pritchard
-as a celebrity judge on "Masterchef goes large"
-the Cathrine Tale show to gather Money for the Red Nose Day