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| In quotes: Blair quits reaction | In quotes: Blair quits reaction |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| Political figures give their reaction to the news that Tony Blair is to stand down as prime minister after 10 years. | Political figures give their reaction to the news that Tony Blair is to stand down as prime minister after 10 years. |
| PETER HAIN, NORTHERN IRELAND SECRETARY | PETER HAIN, NORTHERN IRELAND SECRETARY |
| Tony Blair is the most successful Labour prime minister ever in our 100-year history as a party. Whatever the hits and the battering that you suffer in 10 years in government in the mass-media era, Britain has become a much fairer, more tolerant, more prosperous country in 10 years of Tony Blair at the helm. | Tony Blair is the most successful Labour prime minister ever in our 100-year history as a party. Whatever the hits and the battering that you suffer in 10 years in government in the mass-media era, Britain has become a much fairer, more tolerant, more prosperous country in 10 years of Tony Blair at the helm. |
| WILLIAM HAGUE, EX-TORY LEADER | |
| I think it's good for the Conservative Party to see the back of him.... He has defeated us three times. For the country, he leaves a disappointing and somewhat disillusioning legacy. | |
| SIR MENZIES CAMPBELL, LIB DEM LEADER | SIR MENZIES CAMPBELL, LIB DEM LEADER |
| Tony Blair has been the first Labour prime minister to win three consecutive general elections and he will be rightly remembered for this. Yet overall his period in office can only be characterised as a decade of missed opportunities in which the hopes of the British people for a new kind of politics were shattered. Today politics is more devalued than ever: the gap between rich and poor is wider than it was under Margaret Thatcher; personal debt is spiralling out of control; hospitals are in deficit; and the UK is at the bottom of the UNICEF league table for child well-being. These are the failures of the Blair premiership and failure of New Labour. | Tony Blair has been the first Labour prime minister to win three consecutive general elections and he will be rightly remembered for this. Yet overall his period in office can only be characterised as a decade of missed opportunities in which the hopes of the British people for a new kind of politics were shattered. Today politics is more devalued than ever: the gap between rich and poor is wider than it was under Margaret Thatcher; personal debt is spiralling out of control; hospitals are in deficit; and the UK is at the bottom of the UNICEF league table for child well-being. These are the failures of the Blair premiership and failure of New Labour. |
| LORD KINNOCK, FORMER LABOUR LEADER | LORD KINNOCK, FORMER LABOUR LEADER |
| The one word that has to be associated with Tony is 'winner', not just of the unprecedented succession of three elections won by the Labour Party with large majorities, but also a winnerbecause of his utter insistence and his endurance in Northern Ireland. A winner also in the way in which over 10 years the government which he hasled has produced conditions in which people expect stable affluence. That isunprecedented. | The one word that has to be associated with Tony is 'winner', not just of the unprecedented succession of three elections won by the Labour Party with large majorities, but also a winnerbecause of his utter insistence and his endurance in Northern Ireland. A winner also in the way in which over 10 years the government which he hasled has produced conditions in which people expect stable affluence. That isunprecedented. |
| HAZEL BLEARS, LABOUR CHAIRMAN | HAZEL BLEARS, LABOUR CHAIRMAN |
| The prime minister made his decision that he wasn't going to serve out his third term. He's going on his own terms at a time of his choosing. That's absolutely right for the most successful prime minister the Labour Party has ever had. | The prime minister made his decision that he wasn't going to serve out his third term. He's going on his own terms at a time of his choosing. That's absolutely right for the most successful prime minister the Labour Party has ever had. |
| FRANK DOBSON, FORMER LABOUR HEALTH SECRETARY | FRANK DOBSON, FORMER LABOUR HEALTH SECRETARY |
| In non-domestic politics he will be plagued with that [the war in Iraq]. It was a very bad decision. And it was a bad decision in terms of Britain's interests. It was a bad decision in terms of stimulating terrorism rather than reducing it. But probably its worst effect overall was it led to a great distrust of the prime minister. | In non-domestic politics he will be plagued with that [the war in Iraq]. It was a very bad decision. And it was a bad decision in terms of Britain's interests. It was a bad decision in terms of stimulating terrorism rather than reducing it. But probably its worst effect overall was it led to a great distrust of the prime minister. |
| LORD GOULD, DOWNING STREET STRATEGIST | LORD GOULD, DOWNING STREET STRATEGIST |
| This is a big, paradoxical man. He is a huge figure: people like him; they dislike him. | |
| JOHN BURTON, TONY BLAIR'S ELECTION AGENT | JOHN BURTON, TONY BLAIR'S ELECTION AGENT |
| There's less right and left. OK, a few failed Cabinet ministers and disenchanted backbenchers think they've got more chance at the next election without Tony Blair. I think they're going to get one hell of a shock when the next election comes round. | There's less right and left. OK, a few failed Cabinet ministers and disenchanted backbenchers think they've got more chance at the next election without Tony Blair. I think they're going to get one hell of a shock when the next election comes round. |
| REG KEYS, FATHER OF SOLDIER KILLED IN IRAQ | REG KEYS, FATHER OF SOLDIER KILLED IN IRAQ |
| He will be leaving behind a mess in Iraq.... I just wonder how his successor will sort out the Iraq mess. | He will be leaving behind a mess in Iraq.... I just wonder how his successor will sort out the Iraq mess. |