Blair’s big brother retires as judge

TONY BLAIR refuses to quit public life, but his elder brother is happy to step down gracefully. Sir William Blair QC retired last Friday after a distinguished 45-year legal career.

A High Court judge since 2008, 67-year-old Sir William was always regarded by friends as ‘the proper lawyer’ in the Blair family.

Both the brothers attended Fettes independent school in Scotland and went on to Oxford University before practising at the Bar.

‘Tony Blair was never a very good lawyer,’ says my Blair watcher.

‘He was just doing employment tribunals. He would never have got anywhere from what he did.’

The brothers get on well — Tony was Sir William’s best man at his 1982 wedding — but unlike the permatanned former premier, Sir William is said to prefer to shy away from publicity.