After the gruelling Kosovo conflict and the stalled Irish peace process the fresh-faced Bambi
After the gruelling Kosovo conflict and the stalled Irish peace process, the fresh-faced Bambi who succeeded Mr Major looks drawn and tired Yet he remains unfazed by power. Friends from outside the political world insist he has not changed.Recent events have eaten into his normal “ring-fenced family time”, but he will catch up soon at Chequers, which has become the sacred family haven at weekends, and then on holiday in Italy.Perhaps his lack of Labour roots help him to keep his feet on the ground. But most are unceremoniously evicted by the electorate.Baroness Thatcher intended at one point to do just seven years and regrets not quitting while she was ahead after 10. The cry from the party was “10 more years” but, 18 months later, it committed the regicide that haunts it today.Supporters of the “Blair to stand down” theory point out that, after six years in power, he would be young enough at 50 to do other things – seeing his children before they leave home and allowing Cherie Booth, his wife, to become a judge.Mr Blair has undoubtedly aged in two years at Downing Street; his rapidly receding hairline says it all. All occupants of Number 10 dream of standing down “at a time of my own choosing, when people least expect it”, as John Major put it.
He wants to win and win and win again.”Such comments echo Margaret Thatcher’s words as Prime Minister that she would go “on and on and on”. “The chances of that happening are less than zero,” said one.A Labour source added: “Tony is always focused on the next election. “Gordon’s pals have been saying it ever since Tony became Prime Minister.”Mr Blair’s aides insist there was no such deal, and dismiss the idea that he will quit after five or six years in Downing Street. Part two, according to the Brownites, was that Mr Blair would stand down to give his long-time political partner a chance at the top job.”We know where all the speculation about Tony standing down during the next parliament comes from,” one Number 10 aide said yesterday. He is said to be irritated at recent speculation that he might stand down two years after the next general election. Downing Street insiders blame such stories on allies of Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, whose insatiable desire to succeed his friend occasionally gets the better of him.
Mr Brown’s aides are convinced that he and Mr Blair struck a two-point agreement in 1994 when John Smith died.
Part one was that Mr Blair would be the modernisers’ candidate to succeed him as Labour leader. “What we need is more joined-up government inside Number 10,” one said.. FIVE YEARS to the day since he became leader of the Labour Party, Tony Blair shows every sign of going “on and on and on”. The crucial decisions are taken by Mr Blair and the minister concerned, often as he sits on his settee in his office next to the Cabinet Room.Middle ranking ministers called to a “bonding session” yesterday were told by Mr Blair to keep their eyes fixed on the “big picture” and to avoid concentrating too much on their portfolios.Mr Blair remains frustrated that, for all his calls for “joined-up government,” Whitehall departments jealously guard their own turf.But ministers complain of too much interference by the Downing Street policy unit.