It is rare that a former head of government authors a 5,000-word essay, and even rarer that enough people read it for the essay to create headlines in newspapers and inspire snap opinion polls to understand the public’s view on its prescriptions. Yet that is what an essay by Tony Blair, Britain’s prime minister between 1997 and 2007, has accomplished. In the essay, Blair slams the Labour Party, distances himself from key policies, and criticizes all four of his successors. While it is insightful, what it doesn’t say is at least as interesting as what it does.
Tony Blair was an electoral juggernaut, ending 18 years of Tory rule in 1997 and winning three elections in total, two of which were landslides. That, however, is not what he is remembered for. A YouGov poll last year showed only 22 percent of Brits hold a favorable view of him, and even among Labour voters, Blair’s numbers were underwater. Blair’s reputation was initially tarnished by the Iraq War, but today, the Labour faithful disown him chiefly for his economic policies, which they deem to have been insufficiently left-wing.
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