Premiership of Tony Blair

Blair in 1997
Premiership of Tony Blair 2 May 1997 – 27 June 2007
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Cabinet	First Blair ministry Second Blair ministry Third Blair ministry
Party	Labour
Election	1997 2001 2005
Seat	10 Downing Street
← John Major Gordon Brown →
Coat of Arms of HM Government

This article is part of a series about Tony Blair
Electoral history MP for Sedgefield Beaconsfield by-election Leader of the Opposition Leadership election Brown Deal Shadow Cabinet Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Premiership Policies New Labour, New Life for Britain Ambitions for Britain Britain Forward, Not Back Blairism New Labour Third Way Appointments "Tony's Cronies" "Blair Babes" First ministry and term (May 1997 – June 2001) Ministry 1997 election Chancellorship of Gordon Brown 1997 budget 1998 budget 1999 budget 2000 budget 2001 budget Good Friday Agreement peace process Handover of Hong Kong People's princess Kosovo War Military intervention in Sierra Leone Second ministry and term (June 2001 – May 2005) Ministry 2001 re-election 9/11 War on terror War in Afghanistan 2003 invasion of Iraq Iraq and weapons of mass destruction Saddam–al-Qaeda conspiracy theory Bush memo Downing Street memo February Dossier September Dossier Ultimatum to Iraq Iraq War 2002 budget 2003 budget 2004 budget 2005 budget Third ministry and term (May 2005 – June 2007) Ministry 2005 re-election Cabinet reshuffle 2006 budget 2007 budget Cash for Honours London bombings Respect agenda Leadership succession Post–Prime Minister 2007 Sedgefield by-election Quartet on the Middle East A Journey (autobiography) Associates Faith Foundation Iraq Inquiry Sports Foundation Institute for Global Change
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Tony Blair's tenure as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom began on 2 May 1997 when he accepted an invitation from Queen Elizabeth II to form a government, succeeding John Major of the Conservative Party, and ended on 27 June 2007 upon his resignation. As prime minister, Blair also served simultaneously as First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Leader of the Labour Party. He and Gordon Brown both extensively used the New Labour branding while in office, which was presented as the brand of a newly reformed party that had altered Clause IV and endorsed market economics. 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 in the 1997 general election, with Labour becoming the largest party in the House of Commons. During his first term, Blair enacted constitutional reforms and significantly increased public spending on healthcare and education while also introducing controversial market-based reforms in these areas. 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. On foreign policy, Blair oversaw British interventions in Kosovo in 1999 and Sierra Leone in 2000, which were generally perceived to be successful.

Blair won a second term after Labour won a second landslide victory in the 2001 general election. Three months into his second term, Blair's premiership was shaped by the 9/11 terrorist attacks, resulting in the start of the war on terror. Blair supported the United States 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. Blair also supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq and had the British Armed Forces participate in the Iraq War, on the inaccurate beliefs that Saddam Hussein's regime possessed weapons of mass destruction and developed ties with al-Qaeda. The invasion of Iraq was particularly controversial, as it attracted widespread public opposition and 139 of Blair's own MPs opposed it. As a result, he faced criticism over the policy itself and the circumstances of the decision. The Iraq Inquiry report of 2016 gave a damning assessment of Blair's role in the Iraq War. As the casualties of the Iraq War mounted, Blair was accused of misleading Parliament, and his popularity dropped dramatically.

Blair won a third term after Labour won a third election victory in 2005, in part thanks to the UK's strong economic performance, but with a substantially reduced majority due to the UK's involvement in the Iraq War. During his third term, Blair pushed for more systemic public sector reform and brokered a settlement to restore powersharing to Northern Ireland. 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. The Afghanistan and Iraq wars continued, and in 2006, Blair announced he would resign within a year. He resigned the party leadership on 24 June 2007 and as prime minister on 27 June, and was succeeded by Gordon Brown, his chancellor.

In 2003, Blair became the longest continuously-serving Labour prime minister, surpassing Clement Attlee's six-year term from 1945 to 1951. In 2005, Blair became the longest-serving Labour prime minister in British history, surpassing the near eight-year total Harold Wilson served over his two terms in office. In 2009, Blair was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by George W. Bush. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II as a Knight Companion of the Garter in 2021. At various points in his premiership, Blair was among both the most popular and most unpopular figures in UK history. As prime minister, he achieved the highest recorded approval ratings during his first few years in office, but also one of the lowest such ratings during and after the Iraq War. Blair is usually rated as above average in historical rankings and public opinion of British prime ministers.