Blair to step down as British prime minister in June

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Source: CCTV.com | 05-11-2007 08:02

Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair waves to the public outside Trimdon Labour Club in his Sedgefield constituency in Trimdon, England, Thursday May 10, 2007. Blair said Thursday he is stepping down as prime minister on June 27, closing a decade of power in which he fostered peace in Northern Ireland, presided over an unprecedented period of prosperity and followed the United States to war in Iraq. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

After ten years in power British Prime Minister Tony Blair will step down from office on June 27th. He made the announcement in his constituency of Sedgefield in northern England where he also began his political career back nearly 25 years ago.

Praised for achievements at home, but reviled over the war in Iraq, Tony Blair was welcomed by 250 supporters and dozens of local party workers at Trimdon Labour Club. Blair saved his long-expected announcement for the place where he was elected to Parliament in 1983 and where he announced in 1994 he was a candidate to lead the Labour Party.

As millions watched on TV or listened on radio, Blair defended his role in the international arena.

Blair said, "And then came the utterly unanticipated and dramatic - September 11th, 2001 and the death of 3,000 or more on the streets of New York. And I decided we should stand shoulder to shoulder with our oldest ally, and I did so out of belief. And so Afghanistan, and then Iraq - the latter bitterly controversial. "

As Labour supporters called Blair's decision to step down very sad and cheered his 10 years in office, some anti-war protesters outside Trimdon Hall put the Iraq war firmly into the spotlight.

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