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Britain
Tony Blair to stand down as British PM
2007-06-27
Tony Blair will Wednesday step down as British Prime Minister after more than a decade in power, paving the way for Gordon Brown to succeed him.

Fulfilling his promise to work to the end of his premiership, Blair, who is set to become an envoy for Mideast peace, will attend his last Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons at noon (1 p.m. GMT). The 30-minute session, pitting Blair against opposition Conservative leader David Cameron across the dispatch box for the final time, is expected to be a good-humored farewell.

But the defection of Conservative MP Quentin Davies to Blair's ruling Labour Party is likely to put an extra spring in the outgoing PM's step.

Blair will then be driven the short distance to Buckingham Palace to formally hand his resignation to Queen Elizabeth II, Britain's head of state.

Minutes later Brown, who has served as Blair's finance minister throughout his 10 years in power, will travel to the palace where the queen will invite him to form a government. Then Brown, now prime minister, will be driven back to Downing Street and pose for pictures outside the famous front door of the prime ministerial offices at No. 10. He will then set to work appointing his cabinet and the rest of his government.

Blair stands down after a decade in which Labour won a party-record three straight general elections, in which peace was brought to Northern Ireland and the British economy enjoyed a record sustained boom. Prior to his re-election in 2005, Blair had vowed to serve a full third term. But political infighting within Labour ranks culminated in a political coup last year that saw him pledge to leave office early, honoring a long-standing pact to make way for Brown.

"People are hopeful there is going to be a change of mood and a change of pace very quickly," Labour lawmaker Jeremy Corbyn, an outspoken critic of Blair and the Iraq war, told Reuters. "The first priority of Gordon Brown has to be recognizing the disaster of the strategy in Iraq and making plans for the withdrawal of our forces."
Posted by:Oztralian

#2  > Tony Blair to stand down as British PM

Hoorah!


> Mentally ill Rocking Horse rider to become PM

OMFG!
Posted by: Bright Pebbles   2007-06-27 20:46  

#1  So long, Tony. I suspect your successors will not be an improvement.
Posted by: Mac   2007-06-27 18:49  

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