Tony Blair/Timelines

1980's	1990's	2000's
1983 1984 to 1987 1987 1988 1989	1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999	2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Sources

References, with page numbers, to Tony Blair's memoirs (Tony Blair: A Journey, Hutchinson, 2010) are shown as "Journey (xxx)", and
references to Anthony Seldon's biography (Anthony Seldon: Blair, Free Press, 2004) are shown as "Blair (xxx)".

1953-71

Father's stroke, 1964.

Fettes College, 1966-71.

1971-75

Gap year 1971-72

Oxford: entry 1972; religious influence of Peter Thomson; Law finals 1975.

Mother's death, 1975.

1975-83

Early political career: Labour party membership 1975, search for adoption as a parliamentary candidate 1980-82; adoption as by-election candidate for Beaconsfield, 1982.

Legal career: one-year course at College of Law, 1975; Law pupil of Derry Irvine 1976-77; Bar Finals and entry to chambers, 1977; Employment law practice 1977-82.

Marriage to Cherie Booth, 1980.

1983

June: General Election[1]. Tony Blair is elected as Labour MP for Sedgefield. Michael Foot, resigns as leader of the Labour Party and is replaced by Neill Kinnock.

July: Tony Blair's maiden speech to the House of Commons[2] - "I am a socialist ... because I believe that, at its best, socialism corresponds most closely to an existence that is both rational and moral. It stands for cooperation, not confrontation; for fellowship, not fear."

October: Neil Kinnock replaces Michael Foot as leader of the Labour Party.

1984 to 1987

Neil Kinnock appoints Tony Blair to the post of assistant spokesman on Treasury matters. .

1987

Appointed Deputy spokesman for Trade and Industry.

1988

October: Tony Blair is elected by the Parliamentary Labour Party to the shadow cabinet, and is given the post of Shadow Secretary of State for Employment

1989

Elected to the National Executive Committee of the Labour party. This is a powerful position, as the National Executive decides which resolutions will be put before the annual Conference. Tony Blair will use this position to promote changes in Labour Party policies and in its constitution.

1990

United Nations Resolution 678 "Authorizes Member States ... unless Iraq on or before 15 January 1991 fully implements ... the foregoing resolutions, to use all necessary means to uphold and implement resolution 660 (1990) and all subsequent relevant resolutions and to restore international peace and security in the area"

1991

United Nations Resolution 687 calls for the destruction of all biological and chemical weapons, creates an inspection team to inspect Iraq's chemical, biological and nuclear facilities, and resolve to monitor compliance.

1992

April: General Election[3]. Labour Party suffers heavy defeat. Neil Kinnock resigns as party leader and is replaced by John Smith.

John Smith promotes Tony Blair to the major front bench post of Shadow Home Secretary.

Tony Blair pledges that his party would be "tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime"[4].

November: Bill Clinton is elected President of the USA.

1994

May 12th: The Labour Party leader John Smith dies of a heart attack.

May 31st: Tony Blair and Gordon Brown meet at the Granita restaurant in Islington, London. (Reports that a deal was done at that meeting have since been denied).

June 1st: Gordon Brown rules himself out of the Labour Party leadership race.

July 21st: Tony Blair beats John Prescott and Margaret Beckett to become leader of the Labour Party. John Prescott is elected as his Deputy.

October: Speech to Labour party conference[5] We have changed. We were right to change. Parties that do not change die, and this party is a living movement not an historical monument.

1995

April: The Labour Party backs rewriting of Clause IV of its constitution, the clause that formerly committed the party to nationalisation of industry.

1996

November: Bill Clinton re-elected President of the USA.

1997

Legislation

• Northern Ireland Arms Decommissioning Act 1997[6]

Events

March: The Sun newspaper announces that it will back Blair at the general election. The Sun is Britain's biggest-selling daily newspaper, and had been a staunch supporter of the Conservative Party.

May: General election - Labour wins 419 of the 659 seats.

Appointment of Alastair Campbell as the Prime Minister's Press Secretary and spokesman.

The Bank of England to be given responsibility for the execution of monetary policy in accordance with published government targets (see Bank of England Act 1998).

June: Britain signs the European Union's "Social Chapter"

August 26: Anglo-Irish agreement to set up an Independent International Commission on Decommissioning [7](The Decommissioning Act, 1997 in Ireland and the Northern Ireland Arms Decommissioning Act 1997 in the United Kingdom)

August 31: Tony Blair mourns the death, in a traffic accident in France, of Princess Diana, calling her "the people's princess."

September: Devolution referendums in Scotland and Wales come out in favour (by 74.3% in Scotland and 50.3% in Wales)

October: Gordon Brown rules out the immediate prospects of Britain joining the euro setting five key economic tests that must first be met.

1998

Legislation

• Bank of England Act, 1998[8]
• Competition Act, 1998[9]
• Health Act 1998[10]
• Human Rights Act

Events

April: The Belfast Agreement ("The Good Friday Agreement") creating a power-sharing assembly in Northern Ireland.

May: Referendum to create a new assembly for London and establish direct elections for mayor.

Britain, as part of NATO, joins in the Kosovo war. Britain keeps thousands of troops there as part of a peacekeeping force.

October: President Clinton signs the Iraq Liberation Act,1998 establishing US policy to remove the Saddam Hussein regime.

December: Operation Desert Fox: Britain and the USA launch air strikes against Iraq after reports that Saddam Hussein is not complying with United Nations weapons inspections.

1999

Policy statements and legislation

• Health Act 100[11]
• Immigration and Asylum Act 1999[12]
• Modernising Government White Paper[13]
• The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Establishment and Constitution) Order 1999[14].

Events

March: NATO begins air strikes against Serb forces in Kosovo.

May: First elections to the Scottish Parliament and for the Welsh National Assembly. In Scotland, the Labour Party wins an overall majority and takes power under First Minister Donald Dewar. In Wales, Labour wins the largest share of the vote, (but the Welsh nationalists (Plaid Cymru) have their best ever election results).

June: Withdrawal of Serbian troops from Kosovo and the end of the NATO bombing campaign.

September: Speech to the Labour Party Conference[15] " the 21st century will not be about the battle between capitalism and socialism but between the forces of progress and the forces of conservatism. "

2000

Policy documents and legislation

• Freedom of Information Act
• NHS Plan
• Terrorism Act 2000[16]

Events

February 9th: Blair loyalist Alun Michael is ousted as Welsh First Minister in a vote of no confidence in the Welsh National Assembly. He is replaced by Rhodri Morgan, who seeks to distance the Welsh Labour Party from some of the policies of the UK Labour Party.

May 4th: Labour rebel Ken Livingstone wins the first London Mayoral election.

May 7th Operation Palliser: British army stops the civil war in Sierra Leone

May 20th: Birth of son, Leo Blair - the first child born to a sitting Prime Minister for more than 150 years.

June 7th: Speech to the Womens Institute Blair - heckled and slow handclapped

September 5th: Fuel protests over rise in petrol prices

September 26th: Speech to Labour Party Conference[17] " And they think: you're not listening. What's it got to do with me? Where is this journey's end? And a fog descends on the very dialogue between Government and people necessary to get there...And, yes, there are things we have done that have made people angry and we should be open enough to admit it.

November: George W. Bush elected President of the USA.

2001

Legislation

Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001[18] - created provisions to indefinitely detain foreign nationals deemed to threaten national security without charging them or bringing them to trial.

Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001[19] - introduces on the spot penalties for disorderly behaviour; measures dealing with the consumption of alcohol in designated public places, the sale of alcohol to persons under the age of 18, drunkenness and disorder on licensed premises, permitting the police to close down licensed premises where disorder is occurring and measures to permit the police to close unlicensed premises selling alcohol

Events

February 15th: British and American aircraft attack targets outside Baghdad

February 23rd: Meeting with President Bush[20] - "We reaffirm our determination to oppose the development or use of WMD and ballistic missiles by Saddam Hussein and the threat his regime poses to its neighbors, while seeking to protect the Iraqi people from the brutality of Saddam Hussein and his indifference to their humanitarian needs. We call on Iraq to comply with relevant UN Security Council Resolutions."

June: General election: - Labour re-elected by winning 413 of the 659 seats in the House of Commons on a reduced turnout (59 per cent).

September 11th: Terrorist attacks on the USA: four planes are hijacked by members of al-Qaeda; two are crashed into the World Trade Centre, New York, a third into the Pentagon, Washington.

October 1st: Speech to the Labour Party Conference[21] "For those people who lost their lives on September 11 and those that mourn them; now is the time for the strength to build that community. Let that be their memorial."

December: Afghanistan: the Security Council authorizes International Security Force for Afghanistan and welcomes United Kingdom’s offer to be initial lead nation. Resolution 1386 (2001) adopted unanimously[22]

Responsibility to Protect. Report of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty[23]

2002

Legislation

• Education Act 2002[24]
• Enterprise Act 2002[25]
• NHS Reform and Health Care Professions Act 2002[26] Reformed the distribution of functions between Strategic Health Authorities and Primary Care Trusts
• Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002[27]

Events

January 1st: The euro becomes the main currency across the European Union

January 15th Foundation hospital plan announced[28] - (independent self-governing legal entities with their own borrowing powers that are subject to the rules of the NHS but are independent of government departments and health authorities[29])

February 3rd: Speech at the Labour Party annual conference,

April 8th: Meeting with President Bush at his ranch at Crawford, Texas ("The Crawford meeting")

Speech at the George Bush Senior Presidential Library ("The Texas speech")[30] - "...we must be prepared to act where terrorism or weapons of mass destruction (WMD) threaten us...If necessary the action should be military and again, if necessary and justified, it should involve regime change... leaving Iraq to develop WMD, in flagrant breach of no less than nine separate UN security council resolutions, refusing still to allow weapons inspectors back to do their work properly, is not an option.

September 24th: Publication of the Joint Intelligence Committee's dossier of evidence concerning Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, with a foreword by Tony Blair[31] in which he said ""What I believe the assessed intelligence has established beyond doubt is that Saddam has continued to produce chemical and biological weapons.".

November 8th: United Nations Resolution 1441 - "Recalling that its resolution 678 (1990) authorized Member States to use all necessary means to uphold and implement its resolution 660 (1990) of 2 August 1990 and all relevant resolutions subsequent to resolution 660 ...Decides that Iraq has been and remains in material breach of its obligations under relevant resolutions".

2003

Legislation

• Anti-social Behaviour Act
• Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003[32]
• Northern Ireland (Monitoring Commission etc.) Act 2003 [33]

Events

January 23rd: Meeting with President Bush.

February 5th: US secretary of state's address to the United Nations Security Council[34]. "Iraq has now placed itself in danger of the serious consequences called for in U.N. Resolution 1441. And this body places itself in danger of irrelevance if it allows Iraq to continue to defy its will without responding effectively and immediately".

February 15th: An estimated million people march through London to oppose war with Iraq.

March 7th: Attorney General's advice that war with Iraq would be legally justifiable without a further UN resolution.

March 16th: Tony Blair, George Bush and Spanish Premier Jose Maria Aznar announce they will seek support for military action against Iraq.

March 17th: Robin Cook (Leader of the House of Commons) resigns from the government because of his opposition to attacking Iraq.

March 18th: 139 Labour MPs vote against the government's decision to go to war with Iraq. Nevertheless, with Conservative support, the Government wins the Commons vote comfortably.

March 19th: Britain sends 45,000 troops to join the U.S.-led "coalition of the willing" invasion of Iraq.

March 20th: War on Iraq begins as US forces launch first air strikes on Baghdad. The next day, US and British forces launch a massive aerial assault on Baghdad in what the US called its "shock and awe" strategy. The Iraqi regime falls after three weeks, but Saddam Hussein escapes capture. Bush declares an end to major combat operations on May 1st. British troops remain in Iraq, mainly based around Basra in the south of the country

May 1st:n Wales, the Labour party under Rhodri Morgan win enough seats in elections to the National Assembly to govern alone (i.e. without coalition partners)

May 12th Left-winger Clare Short resigns from the Cabinet saying that Tony Blair had broken promises about the future of Iraq .

May 29th: On the Today programme, the BBC journalist and broadcaster Andrew Gilligan reports allegations that the government enhanced ("sexed-up") its intelligence dossier on Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction.

July 9th: The Ministry of Defence names Dr David Kelly, a biological warfare expert with the British Ministry of Defence as the source for Andrew Gilligan's report.

July 18th: David Kelly is found dead, apparently having committed suicide.

July 17th: Blair addresses US Congress, to accept the Congressional Gold Medal.

July 18th: Government weapons expert Dr David Kelly is found dead in woods near his home. Dr Kelly apparently committed suicide days after giving evidence to MPs about the dossier on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. He was suspected of being the source for a BBC story which alleged the dossier was "sexed up". The next day, Blair launches an inquiry into the tragedy, headed by Lord Hutton.

August:

An inquiry into Kelly's death and the circumstances leading up to it begins, led by Lord Hutton. See Hutton Inquiry

August 29: Downing Street media chief Alastair Campbell resigns[35].

September 18th: Labour loses the Brent East byelection to the Liberal Democrats.

October 19th: Tony Blair suffers irregular heartbeat and spends a few hours in hospital.

November: Meeting at Admiralty House at which Tony Blair promises to resign before the next election provided that Gordon Brown supports his policy agenda.

December 14th US forces capture Saddam Hussein.

2004

Legislation

• Asylum and Immigration (treatment of claimants etc) Act[36]
• Civil Partnership Act[37] enabled same-sex couples to obtain legal recognition of their relationship by forming a civil partnership (marriage in all but name).

Events

January 27th: The government narrowly wins a vote on university top-up fees; 72 Labour MPs rebelled, and the government won by just five votes. The measure means that Universities in England and Wales can now raise extra income from student fees (up to a limit of £3,000/year for each student), but must use some of this to support poorer students.

January 28th: The Hutton Report determines that Kelly took his own life, and that the BBC allegations were unfounded. The chairman and director-general of the BBC, and Andrew Gilligan, the journalist who made the allegations, all resign.

February: Appointment of a panel to conduct an inquiry into pre-war intelligence, led by Lord Butler.

25 March: Talks with Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi, after Libya renounced Weapons of Mass Destruction in December. Diplomatic relations between the two countries had been extremely frosty for many years; Blair hails this as the start of a "new relationship".

April 20th: Announcement of a proposed referendum on a new EU constitution.

June 10th: At local government elections Labour lose more than 450 seats, but Ken Livingstone is comfortably re-elected as Mayor of London.

June 15th: A New Relationship with Schools[38] published jointly by Ofsted and DfES .

July: 10-year science & innovation investment plan.

July 14th: The Butler report is published. It criticises the intelligence basis for claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, and says that the assertion that Iraq could use weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes was unsubstantiated. However, the report found no evidence the intelligence had been manipulated by Blair and his aides.

September 15th: Speech on the urgent need for action on climate change.

September 30th: Iraq Survey Group Final Report[39] - "There is an extensive, yet fragmentary and circumstantial, body of evidence suggesting that Saddam pursued a strategy to maintain a capability to return to WMD after sanctions were lifted by preserving assets and expertise. In addition to preserved capability, we have clear evidence of his intent to resume WMD as soon as sanctions were lifted".

October 1st: Blair announces that if he wins the next election he will serve a full term[40].

November: George Bush is re-elected President of the USA.

December 15th: David Blunkett resigns as Home Secretary over visa row, after it emerges that a visa application for his ex-lover's nanny had been fast-tracked

2005

Policy documents and legislation

• White Paper Cm 6472 Controlling our borders: Making migration work for Britain[41] - A five-year plan to crack dowwn on illegal immigrants and provide for their removal, including fines for colluding employers. A proposal for the introduction of a points system based upon industry's needs for skills.
• White Paper Cm 6476 14-19 Education and Skills[42]

Events

May 5th: General election: the Labour government remains in power but with a much reduced parliamentary majority of 64 seats.

May 29th: French voters reject the EU proposed constitution in a referendum.

June 15-17: European Union summit[43] - British officials reject a budget plan for the years 2007-2013, after offering to freeze Britain's budget rebate in return for a guarantee that the EU's system of agricultural subsidies would be overhauled.

June 23rd: Speech to the European Parliament[44] "If we [are]... prepared to send back some of the unnecessary regulation, peel back some of the bureaucracy and become a champion of a global, outward-looking, competitive Europe -- then it will not be hard to capture the imagination and support of the people of Europe."

July 6th: London wins bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games.

July 7th: Suicide bombers kill 52 people in attacks on London mass transport.

July 8th: The G8 summit in Edinburgh, agrees to increase aid for developing countries by $50 billion.
"if we actually make sure that there is universal access, right, to HIV-Aids treatment by 2010, ... put the money we say we are going to put through aid and give primary education to young people in Africa ... . establish the peace-keeping force that we have got there, plus the money necessary to do it ... " (press conference 8 July 2005[45] )

November 9th: Government defeat in a House of Commons debate on the clause in Terrorism Act that would have enabled the police to detain a suspected terrorist for up to 90 days without charge.

2006

Legislation

• Education and Inspections Act 2006[46]
• Health Act 2006[47]: Prohibited of smoking in enclosed public places and workplaces.
• Identity Cards Act[48]
• Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act[49]
• Northern Ireland (St Andrews Agreement) Act 2006[50]
• Racial and Religious Hatred Act
• Terrorism Act 2006[51] -extends the maximum period of detention without trial of terrorist suspects from 14 to 28 days.

Events

May 23rd: Labour back bench revolt over schools bill[Bank of England Act, 1998[52]

July 12th: Lord Levy is arrested and bailed by police as part of their investigation of the "cash for honours" allegations. Lord Levy, who was Tony Blair's chief fundraiser, denied any wrongdoing and accuses the police of using their arrest powers "totally unnecessarily".

September 5th: One minister and four government aides are among 17 Labour MPs who have written to Tony Blair urging him to quit[53].

September 7th: Tony Blair confirms that he will step down as prime minister within the next 12 months[54].

September 12th: Tony Blair's last speech to the Trades Union Congress.

September 26th: Speech to the Labour Party Conference[55]

October 13th: The St Andrews Agreement[56] between the governments of the UK and Ireland that lead to the restoration of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

November 15th: The Queen's Speech to the State Opening of Parliament - Tony Blair's final legislative programme[57]

December 14th: Police interview Tony Blair about the "cash for honours" allegations.

2007

May 4th: Elections to the Scottish Parliament, the Labour Party loses power; the largest single party in the new Parliament is the pro-independence Scottish National Party, and it takes power as a minority Government under its leader Alex Salmond.

May 8th: Restoration of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Unionist Ian Paisley is sworn in as the First Minister and Republican Martin McGuinness (once a prominent IRA commander), is his deputy.

May 10th: Resignation speech[58] "This is the greatest nation on earth. It has been an honour to serve it. I give my thanks to you, the British people, for the times I have succeeded, and my apologies to you for the times I have fallen short."

June 27th: Resignation

2008

June: High Quality Care For All NHS Next Stage Review Final Report, [59]

2009

December 12th: Interview with Fern Britton[60] - asked whether he would still have gone on with plans to join the US-led invasion had he known at the time that there were no WMD. He said: "I would still have thought it right to remove him. I mean obviously you would have had to use and deploy different arguments, about the nature of the threat."

2010

January 29th: Tony Blair's evidence to the Iraq Inquiry [61] (transcript) [62] (Video)