Blair attended Chorister School from 1961 to 1966.
College/University
Gallery of Tony Blair
In 1972, at the age of nineteen, Blair enrolled for university at St John's College, Oxford, reading Jurisprudence for three years
Gallery of Tony Blair
Tony Blair at Oxford
Gallery of Tony Blair
Aged thirteen, Blair was sent to spend his school term time boarding at Fettes College in Edinburgh from 1966 to 1971.
Career
Gallery of Tony Blair
1997
Tony Blair waves to his supporters upon his arrival at 10 Downing Street, after winning the 1997 general election against John Major
Gallery of Tony Blair
2010
Tony Blair in 2010
Gallery of Tony Blair
David Trimble, Bill Clinton, Seamus Mallon and Tony Blair at Stormont in 2000
Gallery of Tony Blair
Prime minister Tony Blair (L) and South African deputy President Thabo Mbeki in 1999
Gallery of Tony Blair
Tony Blair and Queen Elizabeth II
Gallery of Tony Blair
Long Beach, California, United States
British Prime Minister Tony Blair (L) and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger participate in a roundtable discussion July 31, 2006
Gallery of Tony Blair
San Francisco, California, United States
British Prime Minister Tony Blair leaves after a visit to Delancey Street, a non-profit foundation that helps rehabilitate substance abusers and convicts on July 30, 2006
Gallery of Tony Blair
1998
Gallery of Tony Blair
San Francisco, California, United States
British Prime Minister Tony Blair (L) receives the Key to the City from San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom at a reception in Blair's honor at the home of George Schultz (L), former U.S. Secretary of State, on July 29, 2006
Gallery of Tony Blair
Tony Blair and George Bush
Gallery of Tony Blair
Gallery of Tony Blair
Malibu, California, United States
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (L) and British Prime Minister Tony Blair attend a private reception at the Getty Villa July 31, 2006
Gallery of Tony Blair
San Francisco, California, United States
British Prime Minister Tony Blair boards a plane at San Francisco International Airport July 31, 2006 in San Francisco, California. Blair was to meet with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and several business CEOs to discuss plans to fight global warming.
Gallery of Tony Blair
San Francisco, California, United States
Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair (L) speaks next to Arthur Levinson, Chief Executive Officer of Genentech, at Genentech headquarters on July 31, 2006 in San Francisco, California. Blair has called for maximum pressure to help bring about a cease-fire in the middle east.
Gallery of Tony Blair
San Francisco, California, United States
California State Treasurer and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides (L) talks to British Prime Minister Tony Blair during a visit to the city on July 29, 2006 in San Francisco, California. Blair arrived from Washington, DC for a five-day trip to California where he will participate in an environmental roundtable with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, discuss trade with business leaders and deliver a speech on foreign policy.
Gallery of Tony Blair
British Prime Minister Tony Blair (R) joins California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger via satellite before he signs landmark legislation bill AB-32, the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 to reduce greenhouse emissions in order to help global warming on September 27, 2006 on Treasure Island in San Francisco, California.
Gallery of Tony Blair
London, England, United Kingdom
Ireland's Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, left, meets with Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair as he arrives at Number 10 Downing Street for a meeting on January 30, 2007
Gallery of Tony Blair
London, England, United Kingdom
Prime Minister Tony Blair points as he poses for a photograph with scouts in Downing St on June 19, 2007 in London, England. To mark the Centenary of scouting scouts transformed Downing St into a street party. Mr Blair starts his last full week as Prime Minister before handing over to Chancellor Gordon Brown on June 27, 2007.
Gallery of Tony Blair
London, England, United Kingdom
British Prime Minister Tony Blair (2nd Left) and his family Euan (L), Leo (3rd L), Kathryn (C), wife Cherie (2nd R) and Nicholas (R) pose for a photograph on the steps of 10 Downing Street on June 27, 2007
Gallery of Tony Blair
1994
Westminster, UK
Labour MP Tony Blair at work in his office at the new Parliamentary offices in Westminster, 1994.
Gallery of Tony Blair
1994
Tony Blair and Neil Kinnock at the Labour Party Conference, Blackpool, 1994.
Gallery of Tony Blair
1995
Tony Blair at the Labour Party Conference, Blackpool, 1995.
Gallery of Tony Blair
1995
Tony Blair at the Labour Party Conference, Blackpool, 1995.
Gallery of Tony Blair
1996
Av. Puerta de Hierro, s/n, 28071 Madrid, Spain
Blair meeting with Felipe González at Moncloa Palace, April 1996.
Gallery of Tony Blair
1996
British Prime Minister John Major visits Dunblane in Scotland, to show his support after the massacre at Dunblane Primary School in which 17 people were killed, 17th March 1996. He is accompanied by his wife Norma, and Labour leader Tony Blair is visible behind.
Gallery of Tony Blair
1997
Tony Blair waves to his supporters upon his arrival at 10 Downing Street, after winning the 1997 general election against John Major
Gallery of Tony Blair
1997
Tony Blair MP and his wife Cherie are seen during the 1997 General Election campaign trail. The future Prime Minister was photographed via special access behind the scenes during the campaign.
Gallery of Tony Blair
1998
London, UK
British Prime Minister Tony Blair attends the builder's rite of 'topping out' as the Millennium Dome reaches completion, London, 22nd June 1998.
Gallery of Tony Blair
1998
U.S. President Bill Clinton, First Lady Hillary Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair at the FDR memorial on February 6, 1998.
Gallery of Tony Blair
1998
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500, USA
British Prime Minister Tony Blair (left) and US President Bill Clinton share a laugh together as they deliver a joint radio address from the White House, Washington DC, February 6, 1998.
Gallery of Tony Blair
1999
Belfast, Ireland
British Prime Minister Tony Blair And His Irish Counterpart Bertie Ahern Present A Joint British-Irish Blueprint For Implementation Of The Good Friday Agreement At Stormont Castle In Belfast June 2, 1999.
Gallery of Tony Blair
1999
North Greenwich; London, SE10; United Kingdom
Queen Elizabeth II and British Prime Minister Tony Blair raise their glasses as midnight strikes during the Opening Celebrations on December 31, 1999, at the Millennium Dome in Greenwich in London.
Gallery of Tony Blair
2000
British Labour Party politician Tony Blair, circa 2000. Blair led the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007 and was Prime Minister from 1997 to 2007.
Gallery of Tony Blair
2001
Washington DC, USA
United States President meets with British Prime Minister Tony Blair in the Blue Room of the White House following the 911 terrorist attacks, Washington DC, September 20, 2001.
Gallery of Tony Blair
2002
London, UK
Britain's Queen Elizabeth, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, his wife Cherie and Prince Phillip attend a dinner at the Prime Minister's residence, Number 10 Downing Street, April 29, 2002, in London.
Gallery of Tony Blair
2003
Russia
Blair with wife, Cherie Booth, touring the Amber Room during a visit to Russia, 2003.
Gallery of Tony Blair
2004
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500, USA
Tony Blair and George W. Bush shake hands after their press conference in the East Room of the White House on 12 November 2004.
Gallery of Tony Blair
2005
Davos, Switzerland
Blair at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2005.
Gallery of Tony Blair
2005
London, UK
Newly re-elected Prime Minister Tony Blair shakes hands with Queen Elizabeth II during an engagement at Buckingham Palace on May 6, 2005, in London. Blair was visiting the Queen to ask her permission to form a new government after the Labour party won a historic third term in office.
Gallery of Tony Blair
2006
London, Great Britain
Prime Minister Tony Blair during FIFA 2006 World Cup - Tony Blair Signs England Fans Tour Bus at 10 Downing Street in London, Great Britain.
Gallery of Tony Blair
2007
Blair in 2007.
Achievements
Membership
Awards
Presidential Medal of Freedom
2009
Presidential Medal of Freedom (2009)
Liberty Medal at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia
British Prime Minister John Major visits Dunblane in Scotland, to show his support after the massacre at Dunblane Primary School in which 17 people were killed, 17th March 1996. He is accompanied by his wife Norma, and Labour leader Tony Blair is visible behind.
Tony Blair MP and his wife Cherie are seen during the 1997 General Election campaign trail. The future Prime Minister was photographed via special access behind the scenes during the campaign.
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500, USA
British Prime Minister Tony Blair (left) and US President Bill Clinton share a laugh together as they deliver a joint radio address from the White House, Washington DC, February 6, 1998.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair And His Irish Counterpart Bertie Ahern Present A Joint British-Irish Blueprint For Implementation Of The Good Friday Agreement At Stormont Castle In Belfast June 2, 1999.
Queen Elizabeth II and British Prime Minister Tony Blair raise their glasses as midnight strikes during the Opening Celebrations on December 31, 1999, at the Millennium Dome in Greenwich in London.
United States President meets with British Prime Minister Tony Blair in the Blue Room of the White House following the 911 terrorist attacks, Washington DC, September 20, 2001.
Britain's Queen Elizabeth, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, his wife Cherie and Prince Phillip attend a dinner at the Prime Minister's residence, Number 10 Downing Street, April 29, 2002, in London.
Newly re-elected Prime Minister Tony Blair shakes hands with Queen Elizabeth II during an engagement at Buckingham Palace on May 6, 2005, in London. Blair was visiting the Queen to ask her permission to form a new government after the Labour party won a historic third term in office.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice to give evidence to the Leveson Inquiry into media ethics on May 28, 2012, in London, England.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice to give evidence to the Leveson Inquiry into media ethics on May 28, 2012, in London, England.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice to give evidence to the Leveson Inquiry into media ethics on May 28, 2012, in London, England.
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair, shadow Olympics minister Tessa Jowell and Sir Charles Allen, the Mayor of the Olympic Athletes village, tour the facilities for the World's top athletes during the London 2012 Olympic games , in Stratford on August 03, 2012 in London, England.
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife Cherie leave All Saints Church after attending the wedding of their son Euan Blair to Suzanne Ashman on September 14, 2013 in Wotton Underwood, England. Euan Blair, son of former Prime Minister Tony Blair is getting married at a church near his father's house in Buckinghamshire.
Former British Prime Minister and former Labour MP for Sedgefield, Tony Blair gives a speech to waiting party members ahead of a visit to the construction site for the new Hitachi Trains Europe factory on April 7, 2015 in Sedgefield, England.
Former British Prime Minister and former Labour MP for Sedgefield, Tony Blair gives a speech to waiting party members ahead of a visit to the construction site for the new Hitachi Trains Europe factory on April 7, 2015 in Sedgefield, England.
Former US President Bill Clinton holds hands with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair as they attend an event to mark the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement at Queen's University on April 10, 2018 in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Former British Prime Minister David Cameron, Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn, Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, British Prime Minister Theresa May and Former British Prime Ministers Tony Blair and John Major during the annual Remembrance Sunday memorial on November 11, 2018, in London, England.
Former Prime Ministers Gordon Brown (L) and Tony Blair (R) stand behind Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn (C) during the annual Remembrance Sunday memorial at the Cenotaph on Whitehall on November 11, 2018 in London, England.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair leaves after a visit to Delancey Street, a non-profit foundation that helps rehabilitate substance abusers and convicts on July 30, 2006
British Prime Minister Tony Blair (L) receives the Key to the City from San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom at a reception in Blair's honor at the home of George Schultz (L), former U.S. Secretary of State, on July 29, 2006
British Prime Minister Tony Blair boards a plane at San Francisco International Airport July 31, 2006 in San Francisco, California. Blair was to meet with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and several business CEOs to discuss plans to fight global warming.
Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair (L) speaks next to Arthur Levinson, Chief Executive Officer of Genentech, at Genentech headquarters on July 31, 2006 in San Francisco, California. Blair has called for maximum pressure to help bring about a cease-fire in the middle east.
California State Treasurer and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides (L) talks to British Prime Minister Tony Blair during a visit to the city on July 29, 2006 in San Francisco, California. Blair arrived from Washington, DC for a five-day trip to California where he will participate in an environmental roundtable with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, discuss trade with business leaders and deliver a speech on foreign policy.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair (R) joins California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger via satellite before he signs landmark legislation bill AB-32, the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 to reduce greenhouse emissions in order to help global warming on September 27, 2006 on Treasure Island in San Francisco, California.
Ireland's Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, left, meets with Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair as he arrives at Number 10 Downing Street for a meeting on January 30, 2007
Prime Minister Tony Blair points as he poses for a photograph with scouts in Downing St on June 19, 2007 in London, England. To mark the Centenary of scouting scouts transformed Downing St into a street party. Mr Blair starts his last full week as Prime Minister before handing over to Chancellor Gordon Brown on June 27, 2007.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair (2nd Left) and his family Euan (L), Leo (3rd L), Kathryn (C), wife Cherie (2nd R) and Nicholas (R) pose for a photograph on the steps of 10 Downing Street on June 27, 2007
Anji Hunter (L) shares a sandwich and a hug with David Miliband as Alistair Campbell and Tony Blair prepare for the last week of the general election campaign. Hunter met Tony Blair at university and became one of his closest political aides in Downing Street during his premiership.
Tony Blair, in full Anthony Charles Lynton Blair, British Labour Party leader who served as prime minister of the United Kingdom (1997–2007). He was the youngest prime minister since 1812 and the longest-serving Labour prime minister, and his 10-year tenure as prime minister was the second longest continuous period (after Margaret Thatcher’s) in more than 150 years.
Background
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair was born at Queen Mary Maternity Home in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 6 May 1953. He learned early on about politics and responsibility. His father, Leo, a successful lawyer and law lecturer, chose to run for parliament as a Tory (conservative) in 1963. He suffered a stroke just before the election, leaving him unable to speak for three years. The three children, Bill the oldest, Tony, and Sarah, the youngest, had to learn to become self-reliant, to be able to cope with the family's financial and emotional stress.
Education
With his parents basing their family in Durham, Blair attended Chorister School from 1961 to 1966. Aged thirteen, he was sent to spend his school term time boarding at Fettes College in Edinburgh from 1966 to 1971.
His natural grandparents (his father was adopted) had been actors and dancers, and Blair followed in their footsteps during his student days. Blair reportedly modelled himself on Mick Jagger, lead singer of The Rolling Stones.
He got rave reviews for his performances at Fettes College, organized gigs for rock groups, and later as a student at St. John's College at Oxford University, he was the lead singer for Ugly Rumors, a rock band playing the music of such groups as Fleetwood Mac, the Rolling Stones, and the Doobie Brothers.
Leaving Fettes College at the age of eighteen, Blair next spent a year in London attempting to find fame as a rock music promoter. Then in 1972, at the age of nineteen; he enrolled for university at St John's College, Oxford, reading Jurisprudence for three years.
In 1983 Blair was elected to parliament along with 208 other Labour M.P.s (Members of Parliament), the smallest number since 1935. The Labour Party was in crisis. The crippling public-sector strikes by several unions in the winter of 1978 had contributed to the widespread Tory victory in 1979 because the general populace saw the Labour Party as being controlled by the unions. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's re-election in 1983 was seen as a resounding defeat for the left wing of the Labour Party, and so in October of 1983, Neil Kinnock became the new leader of the party.
Kinnock promoted Blair to opposition spokesperson on treasury and economic affairs (1984-1987), and opposition spokesperson on trade and industry (1987). Blair was then appointed deputy to Bryan Gould, the shadow trade and industry secretary, where he investigated the causes of the October, 1987, stock market crash. In 1988 he made it to the shadow cabinet itself, first as shadow energy secretary, then as shadow employment secretary (1989-1991). After the 1992 election, which brought the Tory John Major to power, Kinnock had to resign, and John Smith, another moderate succeeded him. He appointed Blair shadow home secretary. After Smith's death in 1994, Blair was elected as leader of the Labour Party.
Blair was able to push through his ideas because the Labour Party had changed how it elected its leaders. In the past, officials had been elected by a system of block votes, which were divided among special interest groups and leaders-trade unions and M.P.s, for example-rather than by one vote per person. Blair had tried to institute "one person, one vote" at his local party branch in 1980, but failed. However, the system had just been changed with a compromise version of one vote per person when Blair ran for the party leadership in 1994. This worked to his advantage because the new voting method used his skills. According to biographer John Rentoul's Tony Blair, "Blair is a mass politician rather than a club operator. His straightforward, clear-speaking style, combined with his openness to the media, are qualities now needed for both kinds of contest."
In another move to reform British politics, Blair succeeded in persuading members to have the party's charter rewritten. He specifically targeted the 1918 Clause Four which called for the redistribution of wealth-a "communist equality"-through "common ownership of the means of distribution, production, and exchange." This section was rewritten to reflect modern social democratic aims. A major stumbling block had now been removed as the party could no longer be labeled just the party of the working class. Blair also eliminated planks on full employment, the welfare state, and unilateral nuclear disarmament. New Labour supported European integration and free enterprise while downsizing budget deficits and resisting inflation. It worked. Blair, with no union roots, won the national election in May of 1997, with Labour winning a majority of 179 seats out of 659 in the House of Commons, Labour's biggest majority ever.
That summer, Blair's popularity stood at 82 percent. "His youthful enthusiasm and energy add to his popularity," noted Barry Hillenbrand in Time. Britons liked his style, and as Adam Gopnik put it in his July 7, 1997, article for the New Yorker, they liked New Labour's "desire to end the deference culture." No more looking towards the upper classes, the past, or the nation's history; this was the new generation. As reported in the New Yorker, Blair told the October 1994 Labour Party conference, "I want us to be a young country again. Not resting on past glories. Not fighting old battles…. Not saying, 'This was a great country.' But 'Britain can and will be a great country again."' Blair, with his focus on the future, was able to "make optimism fashionable," according to Gopnik.
"Modernization is the young Prime Minister's mantra," noted Hillenbrand. Blair's proposed reforms to welfare spending and programs were generally well-received. "Blair thinks the government does have a role to play in helping people and assuring social justice," declared Hillenbrand. Blair's $4.33 billion training program for young welfare recipients provided education to expand employment opportunities. He also ended steps to privatize the British National Health Service, thus ensuring that all British citizens had access to health care. One of his more unpopular proposals-decreasing benefits to single parents on welfare-still passed by a large majority in the House of Commons. While Blair has made no move to change the previous administration's anti-union laws, he has managed to lessen the class divisions that separate the nation. If, as some argued, Blair had taken the "labour" out of the party, no one was listening.
Blair has also taken a high profile position on British-Irish relations. In the 30-year war in Northern Ireland between the Catholic minority and the Protestant, British-favoring majority, he has broken with the previous administration's position that all sides must lay down arms before sitting down to talk. Instead, "parallel decommissioning" calls for both sides to gradually lay down arms while talking. Although not handicapped as were his predecessors by a reliance on Northern Ireland's Protestant voters, Blair has been aware of trying to look even handed. In a series of peace talks between the warring factions, Blair has supported a peaceful Northern Ireland. He continually negotiated to keep all the political parties at the table, even those with paramilitary links. In April of 1998, the leaders in Northern Ireland reached agreement, ending three decades of warfare. According to the terms of the agreement, a new Northern Ireland Assembly would be created, giving the Irish Republic (the Southern portion of the island) a say in the affairs of the North. In return, the Irish Republic would cease efforts to reclaim the North. A British-Irish Council would also be created to link Northern Ireland with Wales, Scotland, and England. Blair has received much credit for his diplomatic skills in seeing this peace achieved.
During university he was confirmed in the Church of England and had become committed to social change using Christian values.
In an interview with Michael Parkinson broadcast on ITV1 on 4 March 2006, Blair referred to the role of his Christian faith in his decision to go to war in Iraq, stating that he had prayed about the issue, and saying that God would judge him for his decision: "I think if you have faith about these things, you realise that judgement is made by other people . .. and if you believe in God, it's made by God as well. "
Mr Blair converted to Catholicism after leaving government in 2007.
Politics
In Europe, Blair has taken a more traditional stand. While his popularity has crossed borders and he has become a well-known and respected politician, he is definitely aware of the resistance to integration at home. While portraying Britain as "a leading player" in Europe, the country is still keeping its right to "opt-out." In his first major meeting with European leaders, he voted to block an enhanced defense role for the European Union, keep passport controls at the borders, and sided with Germany when France's socialist government tried to ease the economic rigor agreed upon to establish a single currency.
Whether or not Great Britain eventually joins the European Union, Blair hopes to turn the country into a leading force. His efforts to modernize both his political party and his country have not gone unnoticed. Hillenbrand noted that contemporary European politicians are imitating his policies, from Gerhard Schroeder in Germany to Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok. As Blair declared in his address to the October 1994 Labour Party conference: "I didn't come into politics to change the Labour Party. I came into politics to change the country."
Views
In 2007, he set up the ‘Tony Blair Sports Foundation’ with the mission 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 and also established the ‘Tony Blair Faith Foundation’, a nonprofit organization to promote understanding and tolerance among people belonging to different faiths.
Quotations:
"I want my son to grow up in a place where the people are more powerful than the government and not the other way around."
"Global warming is too serious for the world any longer to ignore its danger or split into opposing factions on it."
"Politics is about listening and it's about leading."
"My teachers used to call me a failure."
"Anywhere, anytime ordinary people are given the chance to choose, the choice is the same: freedom, not tyranny; democracy, not dictatorship; the rule of law, not the rule of the secret police."
"I believe Mrs. Thatcher's emphasis on enterprise was right."
"I had discovered long ago the first lesson of political courage: to think anew. I had then learned the second: to be prepared to lead and to decide. I was now studying the third: how to take the calculated risk. I was going to alienate some people, like it or not. The moment you decide, you divide."
"No one is to blame for the breakdown in trust between politics, media and the public."
"One of the paradoxes of globalization is that, in the developing world, we've seen massive reductions in property."
"The big issue of our time is trying to deal with extremism based on a perversion of religion and how you get peaceful coexistence between people of different faiths and cultures."
Membership
He is a member of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation since 2008.
Personality
He does a lot of physical exercise. Blair thinks it’s important, especially as you get older. He really couldn’t have done the job of prime minister without being physically fit. Nowadays, because it (the job) is just physically so much more than you used to do (in previous eras), it’s really important in that sense.
Physical Characteristics:
Height: 1.83 m
Quotes from others about the person
"Don’t be shameless, Mr Blair. Don’t be immoral, Mr. Blair. You are one of those who have no morals. You are not one who has the right to criticize anyone about the rules of the international community. You are an imperialist pawn who attempts to curry favor with Danger Bush-Hitler, the number one mass murderer and assassin there is on the planet. Go straight to hell, Mr. Blair."
Hugo Chavez responding to Blair, which he urged Venezuela to abide by the rules of the international community. (February 2006)
"I believe Tony Blair is an out-and-out rascal, terminally untrustworthy and close to being unhinged. I said from the start that there was something wrong in his head, and each passing year convinces me more strongly that this man is a pathological confidence-trickster. To the extent that he even believes what he says, he is delusional. To the extent that he does not, he is an actor whose first invention — himself — has been his only interesting role."
Matthew Parris, The Times, March 18 2006
"Tony Blair, a passionate Christian, has expressed his conviction that WMDs will be found in almost directly religious terms of credo quia absurdum: despite the lack of evidence, he personally is deeply convinced that they will be found. … The only appropriate answer to this conundrum is not the boring liberal plea for innocence until guilt is proved but, rather, the point made succintly by 'Rachel from Scotland' on the BBC website in September 2003: 'We know he had weapons; we sold him some of them.' This is the direction a serious investigation should have taken."
Slavoj Žižek, Iraq: The Borrowed Kettle, p. 12
Interests
Tony Blair, in his entry does not list his hobbies, but according to Peter Mandelson and Roger Liddle (The Blair Revolution):”When Blair is not working …he is busy playing with his children and keeping up with their school and leisure activities. Swimming after Church on Sunday mornings is a regular event. His own leisure time is spent reading (mainly literary classics and biographies) and watching thrillers, playing tennis and playing his guitar.”
Philosophers & Thinkers
In the university days he had read Karl Marx and Leon Trotsky, and even then was exploring how to change the Labour Party.
Politicians
Leon Trotsky. Trotsky, he says, was driven by instincts that were more moral than scientific.
Writers
Tony Blair is a lover of baddies, wizard collaborators, religious prophets, political outcasts and obsessives, according to a list of his favourite nine books in the world.
Selecting his Desert Island books, the architect of New Labour chooses – somewhat bizarrely – Isaac Deutscher's three-volume, largely sympathetic biography of the Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky, a man finally killed by his methodical and brutal political rival, Stalin.
He also selects Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, plus biographies of Jesus and Muhammad among his list of most cherished reads in an article in We Love This Book, the new sister magazine of the Bookseller.
Sport & Clubs
Tony Blair has proclaimed himself a big Newcastle United fan, having watched his childhood heroes with his father throughout the sixties. These days he is keen to promote football within the framework of the Tony Blair Sports Foundation, which provides access to sports for children in the North East, such as coaches for Girls Football. His recent appeal to the England team, ‘please win’, unfortunately fell on deaf ears, but perhaps his son, Nicky Blair, will help inject some success into England’s footballing aspirations on his quest to become a football agent.
Music & Bands
He doesn't have any favorite songs. What Blair does with his iPod is his kids put all their music on there so whatever they listen to, he listens to. It goes all the way through from U2 to Foo Fighters and Snow Patrol.
Connections
His fellow intern was Cherie Booth, a top graduate of the London School of Economics, a laborite and daughter of actor Tony Booth. Although they were competitors professionally, personal attraction won. Blair married Cherie Booth, a Roman Catholic, who would later become a Queen's Counsel, on 29 March 1980. They have four children: Euan, Nicholas, Kathryn, and Leo.