Tony Blair Era Ends

Stories

16 Stories

March 2008
- Blair to Take Yale Post This Fall
  
  Guardian (UK) | Mar 7, 08 7:53 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Tony Blair’s ties to President Bush are getting thicker by the minute: The former British prime minister will take a teaching position at Yale, Dubya's alma mater, this fall, the Guardian reports; Blair's son Euan is a grad student at the university, the Yale Daily News reports. Blair, who's also a Middle East peace envoy, will teach a religion and politics seminar. More »
August 2007
- UK Asks US to Release Gitmo Suspects
  
  Reuters | Aug 7, 07 4:14 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The United Kingdom wants the US to let go of five British residents detained at the terrorist detention camp at Guantanamo Bay. Green PM Gordon Brown made the official request, hinting that he may be distancing himself from the Bush administration and carving a more independent terror policy than Tony Blair's, Reuters reports. More »
June 2007
- Exit Blair
  
  BBC | Jun 27, 07 8:30 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Tony Blair handed his resignation to the queen at 1:15 this afternoon, ending a decade as prime minister of the United Kingdom marked by unprecedented prosperity but marred by a deeply unpopular war in Iraq. In a choreographed ritual, Elizabeth II asked Chancellor Gordon Brown, who has been waiting patiently for the question for 13 years, to form a government. More »
- UK Change of Guard Today
  
  Guardian (UK) | Jun 27, 07 4:23 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Tony Blair is expected to resign from Parliament today as he vacates 10 Downing Street and is confirmed as the new international envoy to the Mideast. Gordon Brown, whose luggage is waiting curbside, will begin his shakeup of the government, with at least six ministers targeted for replacement, the Guardian reports. More »
- Blair to Convert to Catholicism
  
  Guardian (UK) | Jun 22, 07 5:38 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Tony Blair is about to become a Roman Catholic, the Guardian reports. His wife is a practicing Catholic, his children were raised in the faith, and the PM has attended mass with them often. But political considerations have kept him officially Anglican all these years. With his last day in office next week, he's planning to come out of the religious closet. More »
- US Eyes Blair as Mideast Envoy
  
  Washington Post | Jun 21, 07 7:25 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Outgoing British PM Tony Blair may step into a new role as a Mideast envoy focusing on the development of a viable Palestinian state, the Washington Post reports. Blair would concentrate on economic and governance issues; he would represent the quartet of world players involved in Mideast peace efforts—the US, the UN, the EU and Russia. More »
- Report: Blair Knew Bush Had No Postwar Plan
  
  Guardian (UK) | Jun 17, 07 8:00 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - In the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, Tony Blair committed British troops to the effort despite knowing of serious deficiencies in US preparations for the aftermath, a TV documentary set to air this week reveals. He pushed ahead even after President Bush offered him an out, the Observer reports, saying Britain could aid the campaign "some other way." More »
- Blair Looks Back on Tenure as PM
  
  Economist | Jun 1, 07 12:23 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - In a wide-ranging essay that offers few apologies, Tony Blair reflects on his decade as prime minister and argues that Britain must stand in the world as “a player not a spectator.” Writing in the Economist , Blair discusses the shifting landscape of his time in office, the challenges that have defined his tenure, and prescriptions for the future. More »
May 2007
- Blair Makes Last Visit to Iraq
  
  Guardian (UK) | May 19, 07 9:13 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Tony Blair dropped in on Iraq's prime minister today, to assure him the Britain would continue to support the struggling Iraqi government even after he leaves office next month. Blair used the surpise visit to reiterate his confidence that there are "real signs of change and progress" in Iraq, despite security challenges, the Guardian reports. More »
- For Blair, Iraq Was No Anomaly
  
  New York Times | May 11, 07 2:59 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - As Tony Blair prepares his exit from No. 10, the British left is already eulogizing the PM as a good man consigned by circumstance to a bad war. Not so, says David Brooks: The crux of Blair's political philosophy was a radical, religious communitarianism, which sired both his leftist leanings domestically, and a genuinely felt interventionism in Iraq. More »
- Who Is Gordon Brown?
  
  New York Times | May 10, 07 11:40 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - As Gordon Brown prepares to succeed Tony Blair, the current chancellor of the exchequer's plans for Britain's future are unclear. Brown's dour, brusque style is a sharp contrast to Blair's slick verbosity, but some see that as an advantage. “He’s not regarded as a prince of spin or a liar," Oxford's Timothy Garton Ash told the New York Times. More »
- Tony Blair Ends 10-Year Era
  
  BBC | May 10, 07 6:56 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - It's official: Tony Blair will step down on June 27, as soon as a new Labour leader is chosen. Blair publicly announced his decision in his home constituency of Sedgefield, having told his cabinet earlier in the day. Blair's words prompted "much thumping of tables" by the cabinet, says his spokesman. More »
- Blair Will Resign Tomorrow
  
  Guardian (UK) | May 9, 07 10:00 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair is expected to formally announce his resignation tomorrow and anoint Chancellor Gordon Brown as his successor Friday. The Guardian reports he won't actually step down until July, but the announcement will signal the end of the Blair era and begin a divisive process of choosing the next Prime Minister. More »
- Blair Ally to Step Down
  
  Guardian (UK) | May 7, 07 9:25 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - British Home Secretary John Reid will stand down, he announced yesterday, giving PM apparent Gordon Brown space to rejigger the cabinet when he succeeds Tony Blair. Tensions have run high between the old and new Labour leaders' supporters, but Reid stressed that his surprise departure was personal; the Guardian reports that wider decamping by Blair allies is unlikely. More »
- Sunset for Blair’s New Dawn
  
  New York Times | May 6, 07 9:07 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - With Tony Blair about to step down, Alan Cowell considers the departing PM's most important accomplishments and failures. The former: moving Britain’s poiltical center of gravity away from Margaret Thatcher’s rugged individualism and toward a more compassionate society. More »
- Blair Points To Successor
  
  Daily Telegraph (UK) | May 2, 07 9:08 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - As he marked a decade in power, British prime minister Tony Blair said yesterday he'll step down within weeks. Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown is expected to succeed Blair, who stopped short of officially anointing Brown but told a Labour rally, "In all probability, a Scot will become prime minister of the United Kingdom." More »