Tony Blair

Tony Blair announced on Thursday what we had all long known was going to happen - that he's going to be resigning as Prime Minister to trigger a leadership contest that will be basically a coronation walk for Gordon Brown. He leaves at a time when his party is behind in the polls and his reputation is damaged badly by the Iraq war and the failures that have happened there, as well as his steadfast support for President Bush on the war even when things were going badly. A resurgent Conservative Party under the leadership of David Cameron looks ready to give Brown an extremely tough fight in the next general election, and most people in Britain are undoubtedly going to be glad to see Blair finally making his way to the door. Some commentators have even talked about Tony Blair as one of the worst Prime Ministers that Britain has ever had, but such characterization is unfair and an example of what I like to call "presentist bias."

Note: presentist bias means the tendency to judge things through the prism of the present day rather than seeking a broader and more informed historical perspective.

Blair has not been a great Prime Minister, but he's not nearly as bad as people think that he is and he's certainly not the worst Prime Minister of the modern era. He's certainly the most successful leader that the Labour Party has had in the modern era, winning three elections and serving ten years which is something that no previous Labour leader had ever done. Those who criticize him for "destroying socialism" forget that all Blair did was recognize when something old has died and proceeded to do what needed to be done in order for the Labour Party to establish itself as a governing force. Blair was not responsible for the 1997 election victory - the Tories were a divided and spent force and a big win for Labour was inevitable but at the same time, Blair made Labour into a party that was more than a protest. With fits and starts, Blair has made Labour into a party that people have trusted, for better or for worse to be in government for three terms. Perhaps the greatest tragedy of his time as Prime Minister is that he could have accomplished so much more.