Anthony Blair

Content created by Virtual Intern  Erinn Heffes

Anthony (Tony) Blair, served as Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from 1997 to 2007 - the only Labour leader in the party’s 100-year history to win three consecutive elections. He had never been to the United States prior to participating in the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) in the 1980s and was able to get a glimpse of an entirely different side of the United States of America.

During his time in Downing Street, Blair implemented a major domestic reform agenda, transforming the UK’s education and healthcare sectors. Overall crime was reduced by a third, and the first ever national minimum wage was introduced. As Prime Minister, Blair was also a central figure on the global stage. He helped bring peace to Northern Ireland, securing the historic Good Friday Agreement in 1998. He was a passionate advocate of an interventionist foreign policy, creating the Department for International Development, tripling the UK’s foreign aid to Africa, and introducing landmark legislation to tackle climate change.

Since leaving public office Tony Blair established the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change to address some of the challenges in the world today, believing that real leadership has never been more necessary or more difficult. Currently, teams from the Institute are directly supporting leaders across the globe in their fight against Covid-19, delivering analysis and advice to help countries mitigate the economic impact, to harness the power of technology and to better position themselves for the rebuilding to come.

Edited by Virtual Interns Regina Navarro-Gomez and Kristin Mitra