Tony Blair

Blair called a general election for May 2005. An aggressive campaign by the Conservatives focused on the issue of Blair’s personal integrity, and the Liberal Democrats continued to criticize Blair’s support for the U.S.-led war in Iraq. Despite this, Blair became the first Labour leader to steer the party to three successive election victories and to secure a third consecutive term as prime minister. However, Labour emerged with a much reduced majority from its previous hold in the House of Commons, winning 356 of the 646 seats. Nevertheless, Labour comfortably exceeded the 324 seats needed to form a majority. Before the 2005 election, Blair had announced that it would be the last he planned to contest as Labour leader. Blair stepped down as prime minister in June 2007, after a decade in office, amid growing criticism of British involvement in the Iraq War. The Labour Party named Gordon Brown, chancellor of the exchequer, to succeed Blair as party leader and prime minister. Soon after his resignation Blair took on the role of special envoy to the Middle East and was charged with the task of salvaging and strengthening the Palestinian economy as part of the Middle East peace process. In this role Blair represented an international group consisting of the European Union, Russia, the United Nations, and the United States.