Conclusion: The Legacy of Tony Blair

Abstract

Assessing the legacy of Tony Blair is a complex task. A successful Labour Party leader from 1994, Blair became prime minister in 1997 amid an electoral landslide. By 2001, that landslide had become more apathetic and in 2005, Blair's third election victory was accompanied by unease, a notable triumph accompanied by a perception that he was now `damaged goods'. This concluding chapter explores the legacy of Blair using four key tests. The first test is whether `Blairism' amounted to a coherent ideology offering a prolonged set of intellectual ideas governing the framing of decisions. A second examination is whether the Blair governments yielded a distinctive, novel set of durable policies. The third exploration is whether the `Blair settlement' was of sufficient calibre and popularity as to entirely reshape the policies of the Conservative opposition. Finally, the chapter applies a fourth legacy test in exploring whether the Labour party was converted into a `Blairite' organisation. This concluding chapter begins, however, with an overview of academic interpretations of Blair's performance in office.