The Tony Blair decade

Consensus and triumph came at the cost of ideology.

from the May 9, 2007 edition

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Thatcher dominated politics in the 1980s by turning acrimony into advantage. She did not seem to mind that more than half the nation hated her. Blair's domination was entirely different. Like Thatcher, he appeared invincible, yet, unlike her, few cared. The most remarkable feature of the Blair years was the absence of strife. Blair was a consensus politician, the best Britain has ever seen. He removed the dogmatism from politics; he erased the party line.

Consensus came at the cost of ideology. Government today is based not on beliefs, but on short-term considerations of political prudence. Today, British politics is often a case of "may the best cynic win."

Before Blair, the British electoral system forced Labour to be inclusive; in order to have any possibility of governing, it had to embrace socialists, workers, and middle-class liberals. Though a broad church, it always had devout believers. Fervent values restricted the party's success.

While the Tories knew how to trim their policies to the political wind, Labour was anchored by principle. There were too many party members addicted to the purity of a lost cause – be it socialism or unilateral nuclear disarmament. Blair cured Labour of the "curse" of principle. In his quest, he benefited immensely from the demise of liberalism and the discrediting of socialism across the Western world.

His longevity as leader owed much to the fact that he was not burdened by sacred truths. Nor, it seems, were the British people. As the Blair decade has demonstrated, a people who believe in nothing are immensely easy to govern. And what of the future? Blair will soon hand off to Gordon Brown, his long-serving chancellor of the exchequer, who inherits a party in ruins. Despite his prominence, Mr. Brown remains a mystery man. He is said to have opposed the Iraq intervention and might even retain socialist sympathies.

Do not, however, bet on the rebirth of ideology in Britain. Brown's success will be determined largely by his willingness to abandon principle. In years to come, historians will argue whether Blair was an architect of destiny or a floater on the tide of circumstance. History students will assess his credentials as a great man. No one, however, will doubt his status as a harbinger of an age when ideology is nothing and power everything.

• Gerard DeGroot is a professor of history at the University of St. Andrews.

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