So, after ten years at number 10, Tony Blair announces his resignation.
I, for one will be sorry to see him go. I suspect I’ll be one of only a few people who feels this way.
Unfortunately for him, his legacy will be that of the Prime Minister who stood shoulder to shoulder with George Bush, and went to war for reasons still unknown.
He’ll be remembered as the Prime Minister who was responsible for the death of many of our British service men and women.
Now that he’s gone, I probably wont be voting for his party again. I’ve never liked Gordon Brown (current Chancellor of The Exchequer), I can’t help but think that he’s nothing more than a number cruncher.
God help us all.
Dawn
May 11
9:41 am
Well you know what I think about Blair, Karen. Never could stand him and my contempt for him and his party has only grown stronger over the years, especially the last 4-5.
Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be any strong leaders from the other main parties.
But I am glad to see the back of Blair – I didn’t trust him one bit. Can’t say that I think Brown is going to be any better.
MERLIN
May 11
1:07 pm
I’ll be sorry to see him go too.
The job of PM is totally impossible : you can’t ever please all of the people all of the time. It’s one of those jobs where everybody thinks they could do it better which is easy to say until you fully understand every situation (and very few of us do).
I think Tony Blair has done a pretty good job of pissing off the minimum number of people most of the time.
As for future PMs young David Milliband is made of the “right stuff” but he’s probably too young at present.
M.
Dee
May 11
2:07 pm
I was surprised when my friend Anna in Cumberland told me that Blair wasn’t particularly popular. He’s considered very popular over here in the US. Our press seems to love him. (Bet he could have run over here, lol) I always liked him anyway. But then I’m one of those folks who generally separates liking a person and liking or disliking their politics. It’ll be sad to see him go.
I can agree, though, that when you’re in office, no one likes you. I mean, everyone loves Clinton over here, but when he was president, people were usually mystified and generally considered him an ass. Every leader, regardless of party, seems to be an ass until a few years have gone by and we look back and say, “Well, he’s better than the ass in the office now!”
And I can totally empathize on there not being a strong leader to take his place. Here, the democrats are probably a shoe in to take the next presidency. Or they would be if there was a single person among them we thought might be worth voting for.
Good luck with the new leader!
Dee
raspberry swyrl
May 11
3:32 pm
It was kind of interesting reading about Blair when I lived in London and reading him now in Canada. There is certainly a difference in reporting on him. Personally I’ve always liked him, and loved how he always spoke so eloquently. I do believe he has steered the party more right and lost alot of his labour roots and of course putting his country in a war to help the Americans certainly did not make him any friends, and yet despite it all, I think he was an alright Prime Minister. I don’t think Brown has the charisma Blair has, so it certainly will be interesting to see who wins the next election.
Kat O+
May 11
4:17 pm
I’ve never found him arrogant, which isn’t something I could say for most politicians. I can’t be sure, but I tend to think Aussies also view Blair more sympathetically. This doesn’t surprise me given the sickening display of arse licking that our own PM showers upon Bush.
loonigrrl
May 12
6:09 am
In July of 2000, I was over in England, studying for the summer. I remember just being amazed at how popular Blair was at the time, or at least that’s what it seemed like to me, especially in comparison to George W. What a difference a few months will make. I actually like Blair quite a bit- I feel like the page that he’ll be leaving behind in the history books is much different that what it was meant to be. Damn George W. ruins everything.
I'll never tell
May 13
1:04 am
Count me among the handful that will miss Tony Blair. I think he could have been brilliant if it weren’t for Bush. And, in return for his troubles, Bush gave him NOTHING back.
For that alone, I’ll never forgive Bush.
On the upside, by his actions, Bush has proven there is no god. He went into Iraq with no plan and nothing other than his faith. Despite that faith, he has failed — miserably, pathetically and completely. The way I see it, if god ain’t listening to the prayers of the leader of the “greatest nation on earth”, then he ain’t listening to nobody.