Broken Vows (83 page)

The winning team in 1997: (seated from left) Peter Mandelson, Alastair Campbell, Blair and Gordon Brown.

The Blairs move into Downing Street, 2 May 1997.

Blair’s first Cabinet.

Blair and his mentor and friend, Bill Clinton, with Cherie Blair and Hillary Clinton during a visit to Washington, February 1998.

Blair meeting soldiers in Macedonia, May 1999, during the Kosovo war: his trust in General Sir Charles Guthrie (left), his first chief of the defence staff, and General Sir Mike Jackson encouraged his belief in military solutions to political problems.

Celebrating the millennium at the Dome on New Year’s Eve 1999 was an embarrassment.

Three disappointed Cabinet secretaries: Robin Butler (served until 1998), Richard Wilson (1998–2002) and Andrew Turnbull (2002–05).

Camp David, 2001: George Bush unexpectedly became Blair’s soulmate and trusted ally.

Blair was unusually dependent upon three advisers: chief of staff Jonathan Powell, director of communications Alastair Campbell and director of government relations Sally Morgan.

The relationships of three chiefs of the defence staff – Admiral Mike Boyce, General Mike Walker and Air Marshal Jock Stirrup – with Blair provoked disappointment and criticism.

Contrived smiles during the 2005 election campaign concealed a turbulent alliance between Blair and Brown. Only weeks later, Blair was humiliated at the Sedgefield election count by Reg Keys, an independent candidate, who questioned the legality of the war in Iraq after his son was killed there.

While he was prime minister, Blair campaigned against dictators but later served their interests: (top) with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi; (centre left) with Paul Kagame, president of Rwanda; (centre right) with Nursultan Nazarbayev, the president of Kazakhstan; and (bottom) with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

27 June 2007: the Blairs leave Downing Street after ten years.