Blair to step down on June 27

[dustdevil28]

The leader of our greatest partner in the global war on terrorism is stepping down.

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TRIMDON, England - Prime Minister Tony Blair said Thursday that he will step down as prime minister on June 27, after a decade in office in which he brokered peace in Northern Ireland and followed the United States to war in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Blair, 54, will leave office as soon as a new leader is elected for the Labour Party.

"'I've been prime minister of this country for just over 10 years," he told supporters in his in his Parliamentary constituency.

"In this job, in the world of today, I think that's long enough for me but more especially for the country. Sometimes the only way you conquer the pull of power is to set it down."

Treasury chief Gordon Brown, Blair's partner in reforming the Labour Party and a sometimes impatient rival in government, was expected to easily win election a the party's new leader and become the next prime minister.

Blair's announcement is one that his Labour Party, and the nation, have been expecting for nearly three years, ever since the prime minister said in 2004 that his third term would be his last.

"Today, the beginning of the end," read the front page of The Guardian newspaper.

Blair met earlier with Cabinet members, who left No. 10 Downing Street without answering questions shouted by reporters swarming outside.

Brown has already declared he will be a candidate; at least one opponent from the party's left wing was expected to announce his candidacy Thursday afternoon.

news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070510/ap_on_re_eu/britain_blair

[scot]

There is a rumor that Tony Blair will be named the new chief of the WB. Look out for these headlines in the days to come. The Economist was also running an article on this last week or so where they were playing with the thought of Tony replacing Wolfowitz.

[Merceditas]

Tony Blair, even though he was a socialist, he was good for Britian. Besides being our ally in the war on terror he did a great job with Ireland, imo.

Wonder who will be Great Britian's next leader?

[dustdevil28]

merceditas said:

Tony Blair, even though he was a socialist, he was good for Britian. Besides being our ally in the war on terror he did a great job with Ireland, imo.

Wonder who will be Great Britian's next leader?

According to the article, it looks like a guy named Gordon Brown. Hey may or may not be good for us in the long run, but in the immediate he'll try and distance himself from Iraq.

[FightingFalcon]

Despite being a Socialist, Tony Blair pursued a lot of Capitalist-friendly policies that made the United Kingdom one of the strongest economies in Europe (at least, by European standards).

Gordon Brown has basically been accepted as Tony Blair's replacement for years now. He will probably try to distance himself from Tony Blair so that he isn't seen as a clone of him but from what I've heard, he will pursue many of the same policies.

The only thing that might change (due to overwhelming unpopularity) will be Britain's commitment in Iraq. Gordon Brown and George Bush do not have the same relationship that he had with Tony Blair.