Tony Blair was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
The Labour Party is a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom . Anthony Charles Lynton Blair ( born 6 May 1953 ) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007 . On the day that Blair resigned as Prime Minister , he was appointed the official Special Envoy of the Quartet on the Middle East , an office which he held until May 2015 . The United Kingdom general election of 1997 was held on 1 May 1997 , five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992 , to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons . The United Kingdom general election , 2001 , was held on Thursday , 7 June 2001 , to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons .