A New sensation: Victory for Blair on road to No 10
Iknow we’re enduring a gruelling contest to determine the new leader of a political party but bear with me.
Twenty-five years ago, Tony Blair became the new leader of the Labour Party after gaining 57% of the vote in what was hailed as “the most democratic process ever used by a British political party”.
That was because it was the first time Labour’s leadership was decided by a secret ballot of all of its then four million members and union levy payers, with no block voting.
The MP for Sedgefield was confirmed as Leader of the Opposition following the sudden death of John Smith.
In a passionate first speech as leader, Blair said: “I shall not rest until, once again, the destinies of our people and our party are joined together again in victory at the next general election – Labour in its rightful place in government again.”
Unlike the current Conservative leadership squabble, this was a notably clean-fought campaign and Blair’s closest rivals were John Prescott and Margaret Beckett, who won 24% and 19% of the vote respectively.
Prescott then won the deputy leadership ballot.
At 41, Blair became the youngest Labour leader since the Second World War. He’d trained as a lawyer, been an MP since 1983 and Shadow Home Secretary since 1992.
And he didn’t have to wait long to fulfil the promise contained in that first speech.
Blair led so-called New Labour to its biggest general election victory in 1997, ousting John Major to become the youngest Prime Minister since 1812 as his party secured a resounding majority of 179.
It was the largest swing to a party since 1945 when Clement Attlee’s Labour Party defeated wartime PM Sir Winston Churchill. And though Blair’s first term in No 10 became mired in accusations of media spin and failure to deliver on key pledges, he repeated the trick in 2001 with another landslide majority, this time of 167.
However, Blair’s support for George W Bush’s foreign policy including the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq saw Labour’s majority cut to just 66 seats by 2005.
He faced criticism for changing from a PM who was “first among equals”, taking advice from his cabinet, to a more American style of government relying more on unelected advisers.
Falling approval ratings saw pressure build within Labour for Blair to resign and he handed over the keys to No 10 to Gordon Brown in July 2007.
Since leaving Downing Street, analysts estimate Blair has built up a £100 million fortune.