Grace Law 27/2/2012

“The Blair Premiership was a bitter disappointment” discuss.

The Blair government arrived in office in very favourable circumstances in 1997. The economy was doing very good and the party appeared more united than at any time since 1945. The Conservative opposition was demoralise and press coverage, even from traditionally Conservative newspapers, was positive. Expectations of the new Labour government were very high, but Blair’s government found it impossible to deliver on all of the promises. In fact, they were ended up doing very little; one of the reasons could be that they were scared to make bold moves that would make them unpopular. Blair’s government could be divided into two phases: 1997-2001 and 2001- 2007. Blair’s policies were only adventurous in the second phase that Anthony Seldon said “He was a late developer. He began with a whimper, finished with a bang” This essay will assess Blair’s achievements and failure as Prime Minister and give conclusion on whether his premiership was a disappointment.

The economy in 1997-2001 seemed very healthy under Brown’s Chancellorship. He decided that interest rates and inflation targets should be set by the Bank of England, not the government. Some saw this as a masterstroke as this would reduce political interest in the setting of interest rates although others said it was a convenient way of avoiding blame. Inflation was coming down and employment continues to go up. The economy carries on going; however, it is questionable that it is John Major or even Margaret Thatcher that paved the way to such a healthy economy. Major’s “poor economic record” was never justified anyway. But there were few problems in this period. Blair’s project of the Millennium Dome was criticised as