biography
| name: |
Blair, Tony
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popular name of Anthony Charles Lynton Blair
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1953– )
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| biography:
| British politician and prime minister (1997– ), born in Edinburgh, EC Scotland, UK. Educated in Edinburgh, he studied law at Oxford, and was called to the bar in 1976. He was elected Labour MP for Sedgefield in 1983, becoming his party's spokesperson on Treasury affairs (1985–7) and trade and industry (1987–8). He joined the shadow cabinet in 1988, becoming responsible for energy (1988), employment (1989), and home affairs (1992). He was elected leader of the Labour Party in 1994 and led it to power in a landslide victory in 1997 and 2001, the first Labour prime minister to win a second full term. His wife, Cherie Blair, is also a barrister. Following his victory, he pledged to modernize Britain and to continue to modernize the (New) Labour Party. His political and economic policies have given rise to the term Blairism, which combines a concern for social issues with market-based economics, including an emphasis on the economic aspirations of the individual. He encountered much public opposition over Britain's involvement in the invasion of Iraq (Mar 2003) by US-led coalition forces. |
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