When will we have a balanced assessment of the premiership of Tony Blair?

“Broken Vows: Tony Blair – The Tragedy of Power” by Tom Bower is a newly-published hatchet job on Blair’s record in office that has rightly been criticised by many reviewers. The political editor of the “Observer”, Andrew Rawnsley, opens his review of the book by pointing out:

“History, so it is often said, is written by the victors. There seems to be an exception to that rule in the case of Tony Blair. Three consecutive election victories, two of them by landslides, ought to give him a place in the history books as Labour’s most successful leader. He is one of only two prime ministers since the Napoleonic wars to secure an unbroken decade at No 10.

The economy grew in every single quarter of his premiership, a record unrivalled by any other major developed country. Sharply higher levels of investment went into health and education, the school and hospital building stock was renewed, child poverty went down and even the Tory party eventually embraced much of a legacy that includes the minimum wage, more spending on international aid, gender equality and gay rights.

When he left office, pollsters reported that a majority of voters thought he had done a good job as prime minister, all in all, and even that he was still “likable”. That’s not bad after a decade at the top. Yet it is now a commonplace of much public discourse that he was one of the most despicable characters ever to inhabit No 10, even the “most hated man in Britain”.”

Of course, Blair himself is the last person to provide a balanced assessment of his premiership, but his memoirs, called simply “A Journey”, are a useful starting point and you can read my review of the book here.

In fact, no full judgement on Blair’s time in office can be written until we see the Chilcot Report on the decision to invade Iraq. Even then, whatever Chilcot states and whatever one thinks of the invasion, we should remember that this was not a decision by Blair alone – he had the support of the Cabinet and a majority vote in the House of Commons.


4 Comments

  • Alan

    I think most people now see the invasion of Iraq as a mistake, yet at the time it seemed the right thing to do. If that is the major cause of Tony Blair’s unpopularity, then he has been harshly treated. History may yet see him in a better light.

  • Erwin Frenkel

    Very pleased to read someone who stands up for tony blair. He has been maligned by the british press and the pundits for the iraq war. They convenientiy forget, for their own purposes, the prevailing wisdom in the western intelligence community that prompted bush and blair, and others, to invade iraq. Future historians may set that right but mesnwhile the dogs yelp.

  • Jon

    He manipulated the British parliament into endorsing a calamitous war of dubious legality by ‘sexing’ up Hans Blix WMD report.

  • David Howarth

    Blair’s legacy should have been peace in Northern Ireland. Instead it’s the Iraq War, where he misled the House of Commons in order to win the vote and keep his (foolish) promise to George Bush. I’m afraid I don’t have much sympathy.

 




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