Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007.

He is the second-longest-serving prime minister in post-war British history after Margaret Thatcher, the longest-serving Labour politician to have held the office, and the first and only person to date to lead the party to three consecutive general election victories.

Blair became the youngest prime minister of the 20th century after his party won a landslide victory of 418 seats (the largest in its history) in the 1997 general election, bringing an end to 18 years in the opposition.

In addition, Blair saw the introduction of a minimum wage, tuition fees for higher education, constitutional reform such as devolution in Scotland and Wales, an extensive expansion of LGBT+ rights in the UK, and significant progress in the Northern Ireland peace process with the passing of the landmark Good Friday Agreement.

Blair supported the foreign policy of the George W. Bush administration by ensuring that the British Armed Forces participated in the War in Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban, destroy al-Qaeda, and capture Osama bin Laden.

He had a surge in popularity at the time of terrorist bombings of London of July 2005, but by the Spring of 2006 faced significant difficulties, most notably with scandals over failures by the Home Office to deport illegal immigrants.

[citation needed] Despite his defeat, William Russell, political correspondent for The Glasgow Herald, described Blair as "a very good candidate", while acknowledging that the result was "a disaster" for the Labour Party.

[37] In contrast to his later centrism, Blair made it clear in a letter he wrote to Labour leader Michael Foot in July 1982 (published in 2006) that he had "come to Socialism through Marxism" and considered himself on the left.

[44] He called for Britain to leave the EEC[45] as early as the 1970s,[46] though he had told his selection conference that he personally favoured continuing membership[citation needed] and voted "Yes" in the 1975 referendum on the subject.

[citation needed] In his maiden speech in the House of Commons on 6 July 1983, Blair stated, "I am a socialist not through reading a textbook that has caught my intellectual fancy, nor through unthinking tradition, but because I believe that, at its best, socialism corresponds most closely to an existence that is both rational and moral.

By this time, Blair was aligned with the reforming tendencies in the party (headed by leader Neil Kinnock) and in 1988 was promoted to the shadow Trade and Industry team as spokesman on the City of London.

Blair's election as leader saw Labour support surge higher still[70] in spite of the continuing economic recovery and fall in unemployment that the Conservative government (led by John Major) had overseen since the end of the 1990–92 recession.

[78][79] Following the Omagh bombing on 15 August 1998, by members of the Real IRA opposed to the peace process, which killed 29 people and wounded hundreds, Blair visited the County Tyrone town and met with victims at Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast.

"[94] In an October 2015 CNN interview with Fareed Zakaria, Blair apologised for his "mistakes" over the Iraq War and admitted there were "elements of truth" to the view that the invasion helped promote the rise of ISIS.

[95] The Chilcot Inquiry report of 2016 gave a damning assessment of Blair's role in the Iraq War, though the former prime minister again refused to apologise for his decision to back the US-led invasion.

[104] As the casualties of the Iraq War mounted, Blair was accused of misleading Parliament,[105][106] and his popularity dropped as a result,[107][108] with Labour's overall majority at the 2005 election reduced from 167 to 66 seats.

Blair resigned from his Sedgefield seat in the traditional form of accepting the Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds, to which he was appointed by Brown in one of the latter's last acts as chancellor;[115] the resulting by-election was won by Labour candidate Phil Wilson.

[122] Critics and admirers tend to agree that Blair's electoral success was based on his ability to occupy the centre ground and appeal to voters across the political spectrum, to the extent that he has been fundamentally at odds with traditional Labour Party values.

[133] During his time as prime minister, Blair kept direct taxes low, while raising indirect taxation; invested a significant amount in Human capital; introduced a National Minimum Wage and some new employment rights (while keeping Margaret Thatcher's trade union reforms).

[166] From 2001, Blair built up a relationship [clarification needed] with Barak's successor, Ariel Sharon, and responded positively to Arafat, whom he had met thirteen times since becoming prime minister and regarded as essential to future negotiations.

[202] After the death of John Smith in 1994, Blair and his close colleague Gordon Brown (they shared an office at the House of Commons[57]) were both seen as possible candidates for the party leadership.

[210] In January 2008, it was confirmed that Blair would be joining investment bank JPMorgan Chase in a "senior advisory capacity"[211] and that he would advise Zurich Financial Services on climate change.

[223] Blair responded to such criticism by saying his choice to advise the country is an example of how he can "nudge controversial figures on a progressive path of reform", and has stated that he receives no personal profit from this advisory role.

[240][243] Media analysis of the sudden announcement was wide-ranging, describing it as an act of "desperation" to obtain a better launch reception of a humiliating "publishing flop"[244] that had languished in the ratings,[240][244] "blood money" for the lives lost in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars,[240][242] an act with a "hidden motive" or an expression of "guilt",[240][241] a "genius move" to address the problem that "Tony Blair ha[d] one of the most toxic brands around" from a PR perspective, and a "cynical stunt to wipe the slate", but also as an attempt to make amends.

Afterward, Blair issued a statement and held a two-hour press conference to apologise, to justify the decisions he had made in 2003 "in good faith" and to deny allegations that the war had led to a significant increase in terrorism.

"[271] Blair was interviewed in June 2020 for an article in the American magazine The Atlantic on European views of U.S. foreign policy concerning the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting recession, the rise of China, and the George Floyd protests.

[279] Blair's continued influence on the party, and on Starmer led him to be ranked sixteenth in the New Statesman's Left Power List 2023, described by the paper as electorally an "incomparable authority on how to win".

[296] Cherie Blair's friend and "spiritual guru" Carole Caplin is credited with introducing her and her husband to various New Age symbols and beliefs, including "magic pendants" known as "BioElectric Shields".

[306] On 22 May 2008, Blair received an honorary law doctorate from Queen's University Belfast, alongside Bertie Ahern, for distinction in public service and roles in the Northern Ireland peace process.

[310] On 16 February 2009, Blair was awarded the Dan David Prize by Tel Aviv University for "exceptional leadership and steadfast determination in helping to engineer agreements and forge lasting solutions to areas in conflict".