Blair steps down - so where is British Democracy going now?
Like a character from a fantastic epic back when the English were heroes and tyrants wrapped up into one unstoppable force, Tony Blair has been an unstoppable maelstrom of power for over a decade in the world political scene.
Effectively hijacking the entire Labour Party in 1994, Tony Blair has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since 1997. But he has also simultaneously held the titles of Member of Parliament for Sedgefield (giving him legislative powers), Leader of the British Labour Party, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister of Civil Service, and a Privy Counsellor. He was, for ten years, the most powerful man in the UK without a doubt.
He has finally given up his post as Leader of the Labour Party, allowing his senior Labour Party official James Gordon Brown, to pull ahead for leadership of the party. In 1997 both were forerunners for leader of the Labour Party, and subsequently the Premiership. Realizing Blair had more public support than he did, Brown pulled back, expecting Blair to only run for two elections at most. He never expected the third.
Now after having shaped one of the most powerful nations in the Western World, opposition within his own party has forced Blair to step down. This is in absence of a Nixon-esque scandal, and a little surprising as everyone expected him to at least carry on leadership of the party until his term as Prime Minister ended. Perhaps he’s avoiding a possible scandal by getting out now. Who knows? Not I.
So what is this gonna mean in the long term? It mans a brand new England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Love him or hate him, Tony Blair was the United Kingdom’s government for ten long years, and now that he’s pulling back, new elements are going to sweep in to fill the void…
Tony Blair, Labour Party, Gordon Brown, United Kingdom, Prime Minister, Britain, England, Scotland, Wales
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