Tony Blair virtually regarded the result of the 2005 general election as a defeat for which he blamed himself and the Iraq war, according to a new biography.
As the early results suggested a much-reduced Labour majority, Mr Blair went into the garden and started muttering “It’s all my fault” and “Iraq”, the book reveals.
He accepted that it weakened his authority as Prime Minister to make the changes to the machinery of government that he wanted and to appoint the Government that he needed. And it further enfeebled him in his relationship with Gordon Brown, who had been persuaded late on to take a full part in the election campaign and grabbed most of the credit for winning a third term – albeit with the Labour majority cut from 167 to 64.
Astonishing revelations in Blair Unbound by Anthony Seldon suggest that Mr Brown regularly told Mr Blair to “F off” as the Prime Minister put forward possible ministerial changes in the reshuffle after the election, and that plans drawn up by his advisers to revamp the Treasury were blocked immediately. The biography paints an extraordinary picture of a prime minister impotent to do what he desired, despite having given Labour a record third term, as he crumbled in front of John Prescott and Mr Brown when they resisted his planned changes.
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/biography/article2759391.eceTony Blair was affected twice by the problem of a pounding heart during Prime Minister’s Questions in 2004 and was unwell throughout much of that year, it was disclosed today.
Blair Unbound reveals that Mr Blair regularly asked himself in 2004 whether he should stay in office. Weighed down by the Iraq war aftermath, the Hutton inquiry, a constant war of attrition with Gordon Brown, worries over his family as well as his own health, he questioned whether he would be able to command the domestic agenda or achieve his ambitions.
The book tells how Mr Blair’s job took a toll on all his family. From 1997 to 2002 the children basked in having a popular, charismatic father. The Iraq war changed that and it was never easy for the children if their father was unpopular and under attack.
During the spring of 2004 Leo, the youngest, was not sleeping well, which meant many broken nights for the Blairs. The night that he came back from a European summit in March Leo had woken up and got into his parents’ bed. Mr Blair could not sleep and climbed into Leo’s nursery bed but was still exhausted in the morning. The problems made Cherie, his most stalwart support, wonder whether remaining at No 10 was really worthwhile, according to friends. After a particularly bloody Parliamentary Labour Party meeting “those close to him began to wonder how much more punishment he could take”.
On October 19, 2003, Mr Blair had been rushed to hospital after complaining of chest pains while at Chequers, and doctors diagnosed an irregular heartbeat. He had an emergency cardioversion and stayed in hospital for five hours before going to No 10.
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/biography/article2759348.eceAnd yet Chimpy tells us he has no problem sleeping. Truth now coming out about "poodle" Blair, wonder when we'll find out how mentally ill Bush was in the presidency!
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