Quick Facts
- NAME: Tony Blair
- OCCUPATION: Environmental Activist, Lawyer, Prime Minister
- BIRTH DATE: May 06, 1953 (Age: 60)
- EDUCATION: Fettes College, St. John's College of the University of Oxford, The Chorister School, University of Oxford
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Edinburgh, Scotland
- Full Name: Anthony Charles Lynton Blair
- AKA: Tony Blair
- ZODIAC SIGN: Taurus
Best Known For
Tony Blair was leader of the British Labour Party from 1994 to 2007, and prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007.
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Play NowTony Blair. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 03:15, May 21, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/tony-blair-9214379.
Tony Blair. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/tony-blair-9214379 [Accessed 21 May 2013].
"Tony Blair." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 21 2013, 03:15 http://www.biography.com/people/tony-blair-9214379.
"Tony Blair," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/tony-blair-9214379 [accessed May 21, 2013].
"Tony Blair," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/tony-blair-9214379 (accessed May 21, 2013).
Tony Blair [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 21] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/tony-blair-9214379.
Tony Blair, http://www.biography.com/people/tony-blair-9214379 (last visited May 21, 2013).
Tony Blair. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/tony-blair-9214379. Accessed May 21, 2013.
Synopsis
Tony Blair was born on May 6, 1953 in Edinburgh, Scotland. In 1994, he became the youngest leader of the Labour Party. In 1997, he was sworn in as prime minister of the United Kingdom. He stepped down as prime minister and left his position as leader of the Labour Party in 2007. In more recent years, he has been in the press for allegedly attempting to keep quiet a phone-hacking scandal.
Contents
Quotes
"A simple way to take measure of a country is to look at how many want in and how many want out."
Younger Years
Tony Blair, former prime minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, was born Anthony Charles Lynton Blair on May 6, 1953, in Edinburgh, Scotland. Despite being born in Scotland, Blair spent the better part of his childhood in Durham, England, where he attended the Chorister School.
Blair's father, Leo Charles Blair, was a prominent attorney who ran for Parliament as a Tory in 1963, when Tony was 10 years old. Devastatingly, Leo had a stroke right before the election, rendering him unable to speak. As Leo convalesced over the next three years, Tony and his siblings, older brother Bill and younger sister Sarah, learned to fend for themselves and adapt to stressful financial difficulties. From an early age, Blair felt compelled to follow in his father's footsteps and one day achieve the political goals his father was forced to abandon.
Although his father was adopted, the young Blair appeared to have inherited his biological grandparents' talent for entertaining. As a teen, when he and his family had moved back to Edinburgh, Blair frequently performed at Fettes College to rave reviews. While a student at St. John's College at Oxford University, Blair was the lead singer in a rock band called the Ugly Rumors. The band preformed cover versions of songs by the Rolling Stones, the Doobie Brothers and other popular headliners. Rolling Stones front man Mick Jagger ranked among Blair's personal icons at the time.
After completing his undergraduate courses, Blair renewed his commitment to following his father's career path. He enrolled in law school at Oxford University, graduating with a law degree in 1975. Blair's mother, an Irish butcher's daughter whose maiden name was Hazel Corscadden, died of thyroid cancer that same year. After graduation, Blair began an internship in employment law under Queen's Counsel Alexander Irvine. Blair proved a quick learner, and his communication skills helped him gain hands-on knowledge of local politics. During his internship, he met fellow intern Cherie Booth, who had graduated at the top of her class from the London School of Economics. The couple married in March 1980 and went on to have four children: Euan, Nicholas, Kathryn and Leo.
Labour Party
Growing up in Durham, England, Blair observed the powerful influence of local miners, who were central to the strength of England's Labour Party. In the late 1970s, while practicing as a barrister, Blair joined the Labour Party, which was then in a state of crisis. Multiple union strikes in late 1978 had helped the Tory Party (with which Blair's father was affiliated) gain victory the following year because the public saw the Labour Party as being mainly under union control.
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Famous Scottish People 61 people in this group
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Cool Britannia - Cultural Icons: 1990s
View groupIn the 1990s, London's artists and cultural tastemakers embraced their British roots. Pop acts like Oasis, Elastica and the Spice Girls dominated 90's music, and reinforced British pride with symbolic use of the Union Flag—Oasis member Noel Gallagher famously used a Union Jack guitar while "Ginger Spice" Geri Halliwell wore the symbol on her trademark, flashy dress. The period was also marked by influential designers like John Galliano and Alexander McQueen, whose unique designs established numerous fashion trends for the decade. Biography.com celebrates these prominent figures, and the many others who led the way for "Cool Britannia."
Cool Britannia - Cultural Icons: 1990s 22 people in this group
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