X-Nico

61 unusual facts about Tony Blair


11 King's Bench Walk Chambers

The British Prime Minister, Tony Blair was a junior tenant on its foundation in 1981 and appointed its founder, Derry Irvine, Lord Chancellor when Labour came to power in 1997.

Alan Pascoe

He claimed that the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, had broken a written undertaking to host the games.

Angelo Sodano

On 27 December 1998, he wrote, at the request of the democratic government of Chile, an official letter to the British prime minister Tony Blair stating that "the Chilean Government considers it an offence to its territorial sovereignty as a nation the fact of being deprived of the power to judge its own citizens" through the detention of Pinochet in Britain.

Anselmo Sule

According to La Cuarta, Sule held a friendship with important politicians such as Erich Honecker, Tony Blair, and Fidel Castro, throughout his life.

Azarias Ruberwa

The list also included other notable politicians such as former British PM Tony Blair and U.S. President Barack Obama.

Bill Gammell

Bill Gammell was born in Edinburgh, and was the son of an investment banker, who was invited at an early age to join Edinbugh's Ivory & Sime (which was started in the late 1800s with the formation of the British Assets Trust.) Gammell attended Edinburgh's exclusive Fettes College where he was friends and debating partners with future British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

BLT

The article went on to explain that the then Leader of the Opposition William Hague had accused the then Prime Minister Tony Blair of being a hypocrite with regards to food, telling one portion of society that his favourite meal was fish and chips and another that it was a fresh fettuccine dish.

Booth family

Cherie Blair, daughter of Tony Booth and the wife of Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Butskellism

A similar term Blatcherism was coined to describe the supposed convergence of policies of the administrations of Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair.

Campbell Live

Campbell Live has interviewed various notable personalities, including Al Gore, Robert Fisk, Tony Blair, as well as an array of celebrities, including Adam Lambert and Metallica.

Charlotte Metcalf

She made the first party political broadcasts for Tony Blair and New Labour, including Clause Four.

Chiantishire

The location rose to prominence in the UK in the mid 1990s when then Prime Minister Tony Blair chose it as one of his preferred summer retreats.

Courtney Coventry

She was flown to UK by the Metropolitan Police at British taxpayers' expense on the day before Tony Blair was to resign from office, 26 June 2007 where she was met at London's Heathrow Airport by plainclothes police escorts.

Covert listening device

In 2003, Alastair Campbell (who was Director of Communications and Strategy from 1997-2003 for the UK PM) in his memoirs The Blair Years: The Alastair Campbell Diaries alleged that two bugs were discovered in the hotel room meant for visiting British PM Tony Blair planted by Indian intelligence agencies.

David Lawley Wakelin

His work includes "The Alternative Iraq Enquiry", a documentary alleging that Tony Blair is a war criminal.

Derek Foster, Baron Foster of Bishop Auckland

After Tony Blair became leader in 1994, he was keen to appoint a new Chief Whip and asked Foster to stand aside, in return for the promise of a seat in the Cabinet if and when Labour returned to power.

Directive on services in the internal market

In Tony Blair's speech to the European Parliament on 23 June, he committed the UK Presidency to try to "resolve some of the hard dossiers", of which the Services Directive was one.

Eddington Transport Report, Victoria

In May 2006 the Victorian Government announced that as part of its "Meeting Our Transport Challenges" action plan, it had appointed Eddington–then reviewing Britain's transport system for the Blair Government–to head an independent investigation into the best transport solutions for connecting Melbourne's eastern and western suburbs.

GeoNet

The UK systems GEO2 and MCR1 were run by Poptel which aimed its services at non-commercial organisations, and the distinctive GeoNet addressing format (e.g. GEO2:TONY.BLAIR – a well-known user in the early 1990s) was widely recognised in NGO and labour movement circles.

Hilary Armstrong

The daughter of Labour MP Ernest Armstrong, she was shortlisted for the vacant Sedgefield constituency in 1983, only to lose out to Tony Blair.

Hinduja Group

On 26 January 2001, Prime Minister Tony Blair was accused of prejudicing the independent inquiry into the Hinduja passport affair, after he declared that Keith Vaz not done "anything wrong".

Is It Fair?

In October 2004, the petition was handed in to the then Prime Minister Tony Blair at 10 Downing Street.

Jean-Marie Bockel

On the right wing of the Socialist Party, he declared himself to be an admirer and strong supporter of the policies of Tony Blair.

John Spellar

When Tony Blair formed his government in 1997, Spellar was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Defence, being promoted to become Minister of State for the Armed Forces in 1999.

Llin Golding, Baroness Golding

Baroness Golding was the peer who vouched for the two 'Fathers for Justice' protesters who threw a flour bomb at Prime Minister Tony Blair during Prime Minister's Questions on 19 May 2004.

Ludmila's Broken English

The twins are named Blair Albert Heath and Gordon-Marie "Bunny" Heath - something many commentators have taken as a reference to Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

M.A.C.H. 1

A spoof, entitled B.L.A.I.R. 1, a satire on Tony Blair, appeared in 2000 AD in the late 1990s, and gained considerable media attention at the time.

Michael Clapham

His voting record shows him to be against many of Tony Blair's policies, including ID cards, student top-up fees and the Iraq war.

Morpeth School

Special guests who have visited Morpeth School have included Tony Blair the British Prime Minister who visited the school during his first month in office.

Murder of Yvonne Gilford

While Parry had been saved from the death penalty, there were still many questions about the overall fairness of the trial, and in March 1998, Tony Blair personally appealed to King Fahd during a state visit to resolve the situation.

N. Chandrababu Naidu

Both Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of England and Bill Clinton, former President of the USA visited Hyderabad during his tenure as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.

New Labour, New Danger

The main poster used in the campaign involved a picture of Labour Party leader Tony Blair on a black background with a strip of the poster appearing to be torn off across the eyes of Blair.

No. 10 Squadron RAF

However, former Prime Minister Tony Blair reverted to the VC10 for more sensitive flights, notably during his diplomacy to Pakistan and the Middle East after the 11 September 2001 attacks.

O'Connor–Keogh official secrets trial

The charges against the pair relate to the alleged leak of a document containing what purports to be a discussion between Tony Blair and George W. Bush at one point.

Pavle Kalinić

He wrote introductions for several books translated into Croatian, such as The Third Way by Tony Blair, Clash of Fundamentalisms by Tariq Ali, Disarming Iraq by Hans Blix, The Fateful Triangle by Noam Chomsky.

Peter Stoffer

Stoffer is a populist and has been an advocate of Third Way policies championed by Tony Blair.

Plane Stupid

John Stewart explained their actions saying: "Tony Blair talks the talk about taking action on climate change while building more runways and allowing more planes at airports".

PledgeBank

British Prime Minister Tony Blair started a pledge himself, to become patron of a community sports club if 100 notable figures will do the same, which succeeded.

Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000

In December 2006 Prime Minister Tony Blair and politicians of other parties were questioned by police as part of their investigation into the Cash for Honours affair.

Radiofrequency ablation

In 2004, former British prime minister Tony Blair underwent RF catheter ablation for recurrent atrial flutter.

Rover 800 Series

Tony Blair owned an early 800 in the 1980s, and the vice-chancellor of Middlesex University had two — one for personal use and one for official duties.

Saddam Hussein's alleged shredder

The Suns political editor Trevor Kavanagh wrote in February 2004 that "Public opinion swung behind Tony Blair as voters learned how Saddam fed dissidents feet first into industrial shredders."

Saskatchewan New Democratic Party

Romanow later quipped that he was a supporter of Tony Blair's Third Way concept before it even existed, and there were many who doubted the party's continued commitment to social democracy.

Sidney Blumenthal

He was present at the two original conferences, both in the U.K. and America in which he became friends with the newly elected Labour leader Tony Blair.

Sir Michael Barber

In the past, Sir Michael served as a partner and head of the global education practice at McKinsey, advisor to UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and a global expert on education reform and implementation of large-scale system change.

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During Blair’s second term, from 2001 to 2005, Barber served as the Chief Adviser on Delivery, reporting directly to Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Social Democratic Alliance

The initial attempt failed however as a group of Alþingi representatives rejected the new party's platform – which was inspired by that of Tony Blair's New Labour – and broke away before the merger to found the Left-Green Movement (Vinstrihreyfingin – grænt framboð), based on more traditional democratic socialist values as well as green politics and euroscepticism.

Sule Lamido

After a September 2001 meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London, Lamido told the BBC that Britain was passionate over the numerous problems retarding Africa's its peace, progress and prosperity, described the meeting as "fantastic".

TeaMp0isoN

The group published in Pastebin what appeared to be the address book and other private data of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, in June 2011.

The Curious Incident of the WMD in Iraq

It is a fictional autobiography of then British Prime Minister Tony Blair, parodying the style of Mark Haddon's novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

Thomas J. Dodd Prize in International Justice and Human Rights

2003: Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, T.D., Prime Minister of Ireland and the Right Honourable Tony Blair

Tom Pendry, Baron Pendry

In 2000, prior to his retirement as an MP he was made a member of the Privy council on the recommendation of Tony Blair.

Tonibler

Tonibler is a male given name in Kosovo, given in honour of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair following his role in the 1999 NATO air campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War.

Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe

On 20 April 2004 then British prime minister Tony Blair unexpectedly promised a referendum, a proposal which he had previously rejected.

United Kingdom agency worker law

In 1997, when Tony Blair led New Labour to election victory, the approach to employment policy he brought was one of upholding labour market flexibility.

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The Directive was the culmination of initial resistance by the Government under Tony Blair, and a final surge of Parliamentary support for a Temporary and Agency Workers (Equal Treatment) Bill.

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Before the case reached the Court of Appeal, a young Tony Blair had been arguing the exact opposite in the Employment Appeals Tribunal, that O'Kelly's case should be followed.

Walter Scheib

His creations were served to many world leaders, including Tony Blair, Jacques Chirac, Vicente Fox, Václav Havel, Nelson Mandela and Boris Yeltsin.

Wheelbase

While Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair was given a long wheelbase version of the Rover 75 for official use.

Zimbabwean parliamentary election, 2005

Zanu-PF is using claimed interference of Tony Blair, the British prime minister, and United States president George W. Bush in Zimbabwean politics, as an election issue.

Zubeida Malik

She has interviewed key figures for the BBC, including Kofi Annan, President Musharraf, Tony Blair, Prince Saud Al Faisal, Desmond Tutu, and the spiritual leader of Hamas Sheikh Yassin.


Alex Okosi

Interviewees have included former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Sir Richard Branson of Virgin Group, and Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.

Anthony Blair

Tony Blair, Anthony Charles Lynton Blair, British Prime Minister 1997–2007

Black Boots on Latin Feet

Much is made of the fact that Tony Blair picked track 4, Cancel Today, as one of his Desert Island Discs when he appeared on that show in 1996, as at the time few people had heard of the band.

Bond Offshore Helicopters

The company also provides VIP charter services, and in the past have flown Tony Blair, Razorlight and Supergrass to various locations.

Bournemouth Highcliff Marriott Hotel

Clement Attlee, Harold Wilson, James Callaghan, Margaret Thatcher, John Major and Tony Blair and many well-known trade union leaders, have all been to the Highcliff.

Des O'Connor

He has worked with many personalities of the day, from rock and pop stars, actors and TV performers, to politicians, princes, to luminaries such as Frank Sinatra, Adam Faith, Sean Connery, Liberace, the Beatles, Shirley Bassey, Barbra Streisand, Robert Redford, Cilla Black, Tony Blair and members of the Royal Family.

Flour bomb

An example from May 2004 was the use of purple-dyed flour in condoms thrown at Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair in the chamber of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom by Fathers 4 Justice.

Four-hour target in emergency departments

Tony Blair felt the targets had been successful in achieving their aim.

Freedom of Information Act 2000

By contrast, former prime minister Tony Blair responsible for passing the Act as "One of the biggest mistakes of his career".

G.ho.st

The beta launch near Jerusalem was attended by Quartet Representative and former UK prime minister Tony Blair.

Harry Borden

His subjects have included celebrities ranging from Robin Williams and Ewan McGregor though Jamie Oliver to Tony Blair and Margaret Thatcher.

Hilary Armstrong

Armstrong was seen as a politician on the centre-right of the Labour Party, and was close politically to her near neighbour Tony Blair and the New Labour agenda.

Ian Lang, Baron Lang of Monkton

As chair of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, Lang insisted that Tony Blair's paid work for UI Energy Corporation, an oil firm with interests in Iraq, just 14 months after leaving office should be made public following a period when the committee agreed to keep it confidential due to "market sensitivity".

Jaap Marais

Marais also demanded an apology from then UK prime minister Tony Blair for Britain's conduct during the Anglo Boer War of 1899-1902, when it had instituted concentration camps in which 27,000 Boer civilians perished (24,000 children and 3,000 women).

Karen Hicks

Hicks has worked as Deputy National Field Director for the Democratic National Committee, including John Kerry's presidential campaign in 2004, and for Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Labour Party of Britain (2005).

Kat Fletcher

Although a long standing member of the Labour paty, she ran on a leftist platform as a member of the Campaign for Free Education (CFE) criticising the NUS proximity to Tony Blair's Labour government, particularly on the issue of tuition fees.

Kazakhstan–United Kingdom relations

President Nazarbayev, along with several Kazakh business leaders, met with Evans, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Queen Elizabeth II, Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, Lord Mayor John Stuttard and Jean Lemierre, the President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, in London, England on 21 and 22 November 2006.

Kevin Barron

Kevin Barron was a leading figure in the campaign to rewrite Clause IV under the new leadership of Tony Blair and it came as a surprise that there was no job in government for him after the victorious 1997 general election.

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Barron was returned to the front bench nine months later as a spokesman on Employment by the new leader John Smith, and after Smith's death Tony Blair moved Barron to speak on Health matters.

Kimberly Quinn

In 2001, she married Quinn; during this marriage, she had an affair with David Blunkett, Home Secretary in Tony Blair's ministry.

Libyan Investment Authority

On May 29, 2007, during a visit to Muammar Gaddafi by British Prime Minister Tony Blair, British Petroleum (BP) signed a $900 million exploration and production agreement with the Libyan National Oil Company.

Lisa I'Anson

Later on she was also presenting other live TV shows including the very first and subsequent MOBO awards (music of black origin), The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium and a live link from Ghana, West Africa direct to London with then British Prime Minister and U.S. President, Tony Blair and Bill Clinton.

Mayor of Mega-City One

Tony Blore in "Day of Chaos" is an obvious reference to Tony Blair, while the Illiberal Progressive/Liberal Conservative marriage refers to the then-recent Conservative – Liberal Democrat coalition agreement.

Office for Judicial Complaints

On 23 January 2010 Cherie Booth QC, wife of Tony Blair (who until recently had been Prime Minister of the United Kingdom), was sitting as a Recorder in a case where a man was found guilty violent assault in which he broke another man's jaw in a queue in a bank.

One more heave

The electoral success of such an approach was never tested as Smith died of a heart attack in 1994 and Tony Blair won the subsequent leadership election.

Pontifical Irish College

Important contemporary visitors to the college include Pope John Paul II, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Irish President Mary McAleese.

Postwar Britain

Tony Blair was leader of the Labour Party from 1994, and three times Prime Minister (1997–2007).

Roger Gale

His Labour Party opponent in the 1983 election was Cherie Blair, wife of the former Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Ted Wragg

Although initially his beliefs were reflected by the government of Tony Blair, he later fell out with it and attacked it, nicknaming Ruth Kelly "Ruth Dalek" and "The Duchess of Drivel"; he also coined the nickname 'Tony Zoffis' (Tony's office) for Andrew Adonis, then a member of the Downing Street policy unit but subsequently ennobled and appointed as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Education.

Trimdon Colliery

Its most famous resident was the former Prime Minister, Tony Blair.