X-Nico

71 unusual facts about Tony Blair


2002 Ryder Cup

The victory prompted Tony Blair, then British Prime Minister to joke in his speech at the following week's Labour Party conference: "What about the Ryder Cup, eh? Britain in Europe at its best. Me and George Bush on opposite sides".

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.

Anthony Blair

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

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.

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.

Cannabis classification in the United Kingdom

As Home Secretary in Tony Blair's Labour government, David Blunkett announced in 2001 that cannabis would be transferred from class B of the Act to class C, removing the threat of arrest for possession.

Clive Betts

Betts was made an opposition whip under Tony Blair in 1996, and after the 1997 general election, he entered the government as an Assistant Whip.

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.

Critical friend

When Kilfoyle found himself increasingly distanced from the policy agenda of Prime Minister Tony Blair and he chose to resign from Government, Hansard quotes him as saying that he wished to return to the back benches but remain a "critical friend" of the Government.

David Lawley Wakelin

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

Dawn Fratangelo

She reported from New York City and Europe, including in-depth reports from London on Prime Minister Tony Blair's critical decision to support the U.S. on Iraq.

Dennis Tirpak

He was the Chairman of The International Scientific Steering Committee for Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change Symposium on Stabilisation of Greenhouse Gas Concentrations which took place at the invitation of the British Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2005.

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.

Diary of a Bad Year

The essays, which take up the larger part of each page, are on wide-ranging topics, including the politics of George W. Bush, Tony Blair, Guantanamo Bay, and terrorism.

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.

Europa XS

In 1997 UK Prime Minister Tony Blair launched the Millennium Products competition to promote British industry in the 21st Century.

Everyday Demons

"Too Far Gone" was written in response to then-Prime Minister Tony Blair's plans to introduce ID cards in the UK.

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".

From the Mars Hotel

This inspired the name of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's band, Ugly Rumours.

G.ho.st

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

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.

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".

Iain Torrance

Torrance made representation to the British Prime Minister Tony Blair on behalf of Megrahi pointing out the deep unease in Scotland and elsewhere over the safety of the verdict.

In the Crossfire

This is the first political song of the band which denounced the alliance of Prime Minister Tony Blair with president George W. Bush (I don't see myself when I look at the flag) during the war on Iraq.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

LiveLeak

The site came to prominence in 2007 following the unauthorized filming and leaking of the execution of Saddam Hussein, and was referred to by White House Press Secretary Tony Snow and then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

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.

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.

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.

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.

National College for School Leadership

Established in 2000 as the National College for School Leadership, its physical centre – a learning and conference centre (LCC) situated in a striking building designed by Sir Michael Hopkins on the Jubilee Campus of the University of Nottingham – was opened on 24 October 2002 by Tony 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.

Nurit Peled-Elhanan

She has criticized Israeli textbooks as being anti-Palestinian and accused George W. Bush, Tony Blair, and Ariel Sharon of fostering anti-Muslim views.

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.

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.

Palestinian National Security Forces

According to The Guardian, based on the Palestine Papers, in 2003, British Prime Minister Tony Blair approved a plan of the Secret Intelligence Service MI6 for a US-led "counter-insurgency surge" against Hamas.

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".

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.

Postwar Britain

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

However the rest of the 1990s saw the beginning of a period of continuous economic growth that lasted over 16 years and was greatly expanded under the New Labour government of Tony Blair following his landslide election victory in 1997, with a rejuvenated party having abandoned its commitment to policies including nuclear disarmament and nationalisation of key industries, and no reversal of the Thatcher-led union reforms.

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."

Saima Mohsin

Mohsin has interviewed world famous celebrities and leaders from Tom Cruise to Tony Blair, Amitabh Bachchan to Benazir Bhutto.

Sheffield iSchool

John McTernan - Director of Political Operations at 10 Downing Street under 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.

Slovakia Summit 2005

Prior to the summit, Bush had travelled to Brussels and met with several European leaders and councils of the European Union and NATO, including Tony Blair, Silvio Berlusconi, Jacques Chirac, and Javier Solana.

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.

Student loans in the United Kingdom

The Labour government under Tony Blair passed the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998 which introduced tuition fees of £1,000 to start in the 1998/9 academic year.

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".

The Co-operative brand

The Co-operative Movement called on the Prime Minister to establish a Co-operative Commission to consider ways to ensure the survival of the co-operative business model into the 21st century.

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.

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.

Tottenham by-election, 2000

Both Sharon and Bernie Grant had been on the left-wing of the party whereas the leading black contender for the nomination, David Lammy, was a supporter of Tony Blair.

Trade unions in the United Kingdom

Margaret Thatcher's governments weakened the powers of the unions in the 1980s, in particular by making it more difficult to strike legally, and some within the British trades union movement criticised Tony Blair's Labour government for not reversing some of Thatcher's changes.

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.

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.

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.

World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists

Tony Blair used the second congress to explain the Quartet on the Middle East's plans for the resolution of the Israel–Palestine conflict.

Zimbabwean cricket crisis

The matter came to prominence before the 2003 World Cup, when both the British prime minister Tony Blair and the Australian prime minister John Howard said they would prefer it if their teams did not travel to Zimbabwe, but did not ban them from doing so.

Zoran Đinđić

His meetings with Western leaders George W. Bush, Tony Blair, Jacques Chirac and others strongly indicated that the West supported his politics.


Alex Okosi

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

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.

Camden New Journal

In 2006, the Camden New Journal - and its sister paper the Islington Tribune - broke the national story that Government minister Margaret Hodge had described the war in Iraq as British Prime Minister Tony Blair's biggest mistake.

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.

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.

Death and funeral of Ariel Sharon

Foreign dignitaries who attended the official service included U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, former Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Czech Prime Minister Jiří Rusnok and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, among others.

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.

Harry Borden

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

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".

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).

Linda Colley

In 1999, Colley was one of several speakers invited to deliver a Millennium Lecture at 10 Downing Street by the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and his wife Cherie Blair.

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.

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.

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

Privatization was an enduring legacy of Thatcherism; it was accepted by the Labour administration of Tony Blair.

Roger Gale

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

Siobhán O'Hanlon

O'Hanlon was a member of the first Sinn Féin delegation to meet the British Prime Minister Tony Blair in Downing Street in December 1997.

SpeakOut

In 2006, SpeakOut administrator Chris Johnson was recognised by British Prime Minister Tony Blair for exceptional work in the voluntary sector.

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 Prisoner or: How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair

Although innocent, he was accused by American military officials of plotting to assassinate then British prime minister Tony Blair along with his two brothers.

The Swaminarayan School

Since its creation, it has been visited by many famous people, including Tony Blair, General Sir Richard Dannatt GCB, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall.

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

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.