Labour Government 1997-2007
| Blair ministry | |
|---|---|
| 90th, 91st and 92nd ministries of the United Kingdom (since 1707) |
|
| 1997–2007 | |
 |
|
| Date formed | 2 May 1997 |
| Date dissolved | 27 June 2007 |
| People and organisations | |
| Head of government | Tony Blair |
| Deputy head of government | John Prescott |
| Head of state | Queen Elizabeth II |
| Member party | Labour Party |
| Status in legislature | Majority |
| Opposition cabinet | |
| Opposition party | Conservative Party |
| Opposition leader |
|
| History | |
| Election(s) | |
| Predecessor | Second Major ministry |
| Successor | Brown ministry |
Tony Blair formed the Blair ministry in May 1997 after being invited by Queen Elizabeth II to form a new government following the resignation of the previous Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, John Major as a result of the Labour Party victory in the 1997 General Election. He would serve as the Prime Minister for three successive parliamentary terms until his resignation on 27 June 2007. His Cabinet was reshuffled for each new parliament along with a few minor changes during each term.
After 18 years in opposition, Labour ousted the Tories in the May 1997 election with a 179-seat majority. The Prime Minister Tony Blair, who turned 44 just days after leading Labour to power, was the youngest Prime Minister of the 20th century.
Blair quickly wiped away memories of the troubled Labour governments led by Harold Wilson and James Callaghan as the economic recovery continued and unemployment continued to fall. While other developed countries, notably Japan, were hit by a financial crisis during Blair's first term in office, Britain's economy remained strong.
In September 2000, however, protests against fuel prices intensified across the country and the new Tory leader William Hague exploited the situation by pointing out to voters just how much fuel prices had risen under Labour. This sparked a brief Tory lead in the opinion polls – the first in eight years – but once the protests and consequent fuel shortages ended, Labour led the opinion polls once more. Blair was so confident of re-election that he called a general election for 3 May, but this was postponed until 7 June due to the foot and mouth crisis. This led to a brief crisis in the agricultural and tourism industries, but did little to shake a still-strong economy and the voters responded by re-electing Blair with an only slightly reduced majority.
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