106-461: Sport Relief was a biennial charity event from Comic Relief , in association with BBC Sport , established in 2002. It was the idea of Kevin Cahill, CBE, who had joined Comic Relief in 1991 to establish a new department as Director of Education and Communications and went on to become its creative director and CEO. Now joint Honorary Life President with Sir Lenny Henry, Cahill joined having created
212-515: A "democratic socialist" himself in the same year. However, the move away from nationalisation in the old Clause IV made many on the left wing of the Labour Party feel that Labour was moving away from traditional socialist principles of nationalisation set out in 1918, and was seen by them as part of a shift of the party towards "New Labour". Blair inherited the Labour leadership at a time when
318-487: A Sierra Leone rebel group. Journalist Andrew Marr has argued that the success of ground attacks, real and threatened, over air strikes alone was influential on how Blair planned the Iraq War, and that the success of the first three wars Blair fought "played to his sense of himself as a moral war leader". When asked in 2010 if the success of Palliser may have "embolden[ed] British politicians" to think of military action as
424-543: A damning assessment of Blair's role in the Iraq War. As the casualties of the Iraq War mounted, Blair was accused of misleading Parliament, and his popularity dropped dramatically. Blair won a third term after Labour won a third election victory in 2005 , in part thanks to the UK's strong economic performance, but with a substantially reduced majority, due to the UK's involvement in the Iraq War. During his third term , Blair pushed for more systemic public sector reform and brokered
530-630: A heart attack on 12 May 1994. Blair defeated John Prescott and Margaret Beckett in the subsequent leadership election and became Leader of the Opposition . As is customary for the holder of that office, Blair was appointed a Privy Counsellor . It has long been rumoured a deal was struck between Blair and Shadow Chancellor Gordon Brown at the former Granita restaurant in Islington , in which Blair promised to give Brown control of economic policy in return for Brown not standing against him in
636-584: A leadership election in which Brown was the only candidate. At a special party conference in Manchester on 24 June 2007, Blair formally handed over the leadership of the Labour Party to Brown, who had been Chancellor of the Exchequer in Blair's three ministries. Blair tendered his resignation as prime minister on 27 June and Brown assumed office the same afternoon. Blair resigned from his Sedgefield seat in
742-517: A new sketch based in the Match of the Day studio. The third Sport Relief Celebrity Boxing bout was won by Jack Osbourne who defeated the former S Club 7 singer Bradley McIntosh . It was presented by Mark Durden-Smith with Dave Spikey as ringmaster. British pop band McFly covered the hit song " Don't Stop Me Now " originally by Queen as the official single for the event. It reached number one on
848-475: A policy option, General Sir David Richards admitted there "might be something in that". From the start of the War on Terror in 2001, Blair strongly supported the foreign policy of George W. Bush , participating in the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan and 2003 invasion of Iraq . The invasion of Iraq was particularly controversial, as it attracted widespread public opposition and 139 of Blair's own MPs opposed it. As
954-506: A profile within the party. Despite his defeat, William Russell, political correspondent for The Glasgow Herald , described Blair as "a very good candidate", while acknowledging that the result was "a disaster" for the Labour Party. In contrast to his later centrism , Blair made it clear in a letter he wrote to Labour leader Michael Foot in July 1982 (published in 2006) that he had "come to Socialism through Marxism" and considered himself on
1060-526: A result, he faced criticism over the policy itself and the circumstances of the decision. Alastair Campbell described Blair's statement that the intelligence on WMDs was "beyond doubt" as his "assessment of the assessment that was given to him." In 2009, Blair stated that he would have supported removing Saddam Hussein from power even in the face of proof that he had no such weapons. Playwright Harold Pinter and former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad accused Blair of war crimes. Testifying before
1166-580: A settlement to restore powersharing to Northern Ireland. He had a surge in popularity at the time of terrorist bombings of London of July 2005, but by the Spring of 2006 faced significant difficulties, most notably with scandals over failures by the Home Office to deport illegal immigrants. Amid the Cash-for-Honours scandal , Blair was interviewed three times as prime minister, though only as
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#17327917337971272-490: A single 30-minute session on Wednesdays. In addition to PMQs, Blair held monthly press conferences at which he fielded questions from journalists and, from 2002, broke precedent by agreeing to give evidence twice yearly before the most senior Commons select committee, the Liaison Committee . Blair was sometimes perceived as paying insufficient attention both to the views of his own Cabinet colleagues and to those of
1378-531: A source of optimism, as they indicated that the Conservatives were in decline. Virtually every opinion poll since late-1992 put Labour ahead of the Conservatives with enough support to form an overall majority. Blair became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on 2 May 1997; aged 43, he was the youngest person to reach that office since Lord Liverpool became prime minister aged 42 in 1812. He
1484-528: A special edition of Absolutely Fabulous and Jake Humphrey presents a special Never Mind the Buzzcocks with Louise Redknapp and Melanie C alongside the regulars. On the night, there were performances from LMFAO , Snow Patrol , and JLS who performed the Sport Relief single with Emeli Sandé and rugby players in the chorus. JLS also did a concert for Sport Relief . The total raised on
1590-478: A special edition of Dani's House and Paddy McGuiness hosted a new series, Sport Relief does We Are the Champions . The total raised on the night of broadcast was £31,633,091. James Corden also performed various comedy sketches with British athletes like Andy Murray (tennis), David Beckham (football) and Tom Daley (diving). Lawrence Dallaglio embarked on a gruelling cycle from Rome to Edinburgh during
1696-498: A special routine to a re-mix of iconic BBC Sport theme tunes, Bruce Forsyth was on hand to present a cheque, Patrick Kielty was live in the studio to talk about the Indian railway project he had visited, Rachel Stevens performed the Sport Relief single "Some Girls", Dick and Dom introduced Ray Stubbs being swung from a crane into a giant ball of dung and Stephen Fry hosted another edition of A Question of Sport Relief . While
1802-406: A strong economy, with real incomes of British citizens growing 18% between 1997 and 2006. Britain saw rapid productivity growth and significant GDP growth, as well as falling poverty rates and inequality which, despite stubbornly failing to fall, stalled thanks to New Labour's economic policies (such as tax credits). Despite the financial bubble developing in the property markets, studies have credited
1908-556: A witness and not under caution . The Afghanistan and Iraq wars continued, and in 2006, Blair announced he would resign within a year. He resigned the party leadership on 24 June 2007 and as prime minister on 27 June, and was succeeded by Gordon Brown , his chancellor . After leaving office, Blair gave up his seat and was appointed special envoy of the Quartet on the Middle East, a diplomatic post he held until 2015. He has been
2014-438: Is used in reference to a period of two years. In particular, it can refer to: Tony Blair [REDACTED] Sir 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. He was Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1997 and held various shadow cabinet posts from 1987 to 1994. Blair
2120-502: The 1983 general election was called. Blair's initial inquiries discovered that the left was trying to arrange the selection for Les Huckfield , sitting MP for Nuneaton, who was trying elsewhere; several sitting MPs displaced by boundary changes were also interested in it. When he discovered the Trimdon branch had not yet made a nomination, Blair visited them and won the support of the branch secretary John Burton , and with Burton's help
2226-547: The 5K and 10K distances more commonly used in mass runs). 81,000 people took part in the first Sport Relief Mile, sponsored by Fitness First , in 2004. Sainsbury's was the official sponsor of the Mile. In 2006, more than 423,000 people took part in the Sport Relief Mile, making it one of the biggest mass participation events in history. The Sport Relief Mile Show on BBC One on the morning of Saturday 15 July
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#17327917337972332-947: The Good Friday Agreement (after 30 years of conflict) was widely recognised. Following the Omagh bombing on 15 August 1998, by members of the Real IRA opposed to the peace process, which killed 29 people and wounded hundreds, Blair visited the County Tyrone town and met with victims at Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast . In his first six years in office, Blair ordered British troops into combat five times, more than any other prime minister in British history. This included Iraq in both 1998 and 2003 , Kosovo (1999), Sierra Leone (2000) and Afghanistan (2001). The Kosovo War, which Blair had advocated on moral grounds,
2438-489: The House of Commons on 6 July 1983, Blair stated, "I am a socialist not through reading a textbook that has caught my intellectual fancy, nor through unthinking tradition, but because I believe that, at its best, socialism corresponds most closely to an existence that is both rational and moral. It stands for cooperation, not confrontation; for fellowship, not fear. It stands for equality." Once elected, Blair's political ascent
2544-533: The Iraq Inquiry on 29 January 2010, Blair said Saddam Hussein was a "monster and I believe he threatened not just the region but the world." Blair said that British and American attitude towards Hussein had "changed dramatically" after the September 11 attacks . Blair denied that he would have supported the invasion of Iraq even if he had thought Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction. He said he believed
2650-475: The Iraq War , on the inaccurate beliefs that Saddam Hussein 's regime possessed weapons of mass destruction and developed ties with al-Qaeda . The invasion of Iraq was particularly controversial, as it attracted widespread public opposition and 139 of Blair's own MPs opposed it. As a result, he faced criticism over the policy itself and the circumstances of the decision. The Iraq Inquiry report of 2016 gave
2756-633: The Israel–Lebanon conflict . On 7 September 2006, Blair publicly stated he would step down as leader by the time of the Trades Union Congress conference held from 10 to 13 September 2007, despite promising to serve a full term during the previous general election campaign. On 10 May 2007, during a speech at the Trimdon Labour Club , Blair announced his intention to resign as both Labour leader and prime minister, triggering
2862-570: The RBS 6 Nations Championship to raise money for Sport Relief and the Dallaglio Foundation. The Dallaglio Cycle Slam took place over the course of a month, seeing a team cycling through all of the RBS 6 Nations countries, taking in each of the international rugby stadia along the way. The aim was to raise £1million and £1.14 million was raised with 50% going to Sport Relief 2010. The 2012 event appeal ran from 23 to 25 March 2012, with
2968-540: The Sport Relief night of TV from the dock10 studios , which aired on BBC One on 13 March. The total raised on the night of broadcast was £40,540,355. The Sport Relief Mile was created to give the campaign a focus with an event that was open to anyone to run, walk, jog, wheel, bounce or crawl, regardless of ability or age. It was also designed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Sir Roger Bannister's first sub-four-minute mile . Participants could also choose to cover 3 miles or 6 miles (close to, but slightly shorter than,
3074-554: The Sport Relief single was by Leona Lewis with her single " Footprints in the Sand ", though it was officially released as a double A-side with " Better in Time ". In 2010, the single was " Morning Sun ", sung by Robbie Williams. In 2012, the song was " Proud ", sung by JLS and in 2014 " Word Up! " sung by Little Mix both peaking at the 6th position. In 2016, " Running " sung by James Bay peaked at No. 60. The first Sport Relief show
3180-618: The Sport Relief telethon show began after the six o'clock news, with the usual BBC One schedule suspended at 7pm in favour of a live programme, with a break at 10pm for the News. However, whilst the BBC News at Ten was aired on BBC One, Sport Relief continued on BBC Two, and then resumed on BBC One at 10:35pm, with each hour overseen by a different celebrity host team. All the celebrity talent who represent Comic Relief's campaigns agree to do so for no fee. The first Sport Relief single in 2002
3286-576: The 1983 general election endorsed left-wing policies that Labour advocated in the early 1980s. He called for Britain to leave the EEC as early as the 1970s, though he had told his selection conference that he personally favoured continuing membership and voted "Yes" in the 1975 referendum on the subject . He opposed the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) in 1986 but supported the ERM by 1989. He
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3392-490: The 1997 election that New Labour would govern "from the radical centre", and according to one lifelong Labour Party member always described himself as a social democrat . In a 2007 opinion piece in The Guardian , left-wing commentator Neil Lawson described Blair as to the right of centre . A YouGov opinion poll in 2005 found that a small majority of British voters, including many New Labour supporters, placed Blair on
3498-680: The EU. With specific regards to Blair's LGBTQ+ reforms, Blair introduced the Civil Partnership Act 2004 which granted civil partners rights and responsibilities similar to those in civil marriages, equalised the age of consent between straight and gay couples, ended the ban on gay people serving in the British military, introduced the Gender Recognition Act 2004 which allows those with gender dysphoria to legally change their gender, repealed Section 28 , gave gay couples
3604-662: The Education Department at the National Theatre in London and been its first Head. In 2021, Comic Relief announced that from 2022 it was changing from alternating Sport Relief and Red Nose Day campaigns to Red Nose Day becoming annual and Sport Relief evolving into a year-round brand. The annual Red Nose Day telethon would now take place at Dock10, MediaCityUK in Salford. Like Red Nose Day, historically
3710-476: The House of Commons. His style was sometimes criticised as not that of a prime minister and head of government , which he was, but of a president and head of state, which he was not. Blair was accused of excessive reliance on spin . He was the first UK prime minister to have been formally questioned by police, though not under caution , while still in office. As the casualties of the Iraq War mounted, Blair
3816-653: The NHS and other public services, increasing spending from 39.9% of GDP to 48.1% in 2010–11. They pledged in 2001 to bring NHS spending to the levels of other European countries, and doubled spending in real terms to over £100 billion in England alone. Non-European immigration rose significantly during the period from 1997, not least because of the government 's abolition of the primary purpose rule in June 1997. This change made it easier for UK residents to bring foreign spouses into
3922-496: The News and Lottery were on BBC One, there was a brand new show on BBC Two, Stars in Fast Cars which featured Alan Davies , Jodie Kidd , Patrick Kielty , Jimmy Carr and Darren Jordon competing in a variety of car related races and stunts. The second half of the main show was back on BBC One from 21.30 BC to 00.30. BC Angus Deayton looked at Sports Stars in adverts, Lionel Richie and Badly Drawn Boy performed live in
4028-609: The Rolling Stones . Leaving Fettes College at the age of 18, Blair next spent a gap year in London working as a rock music promoter. In 1972, at the age of 19, Blair matriculated at St John's College, Oxford , reading jurisprudence for three years. As a student, he played guitar and sang in a rock band called Ugly Rumours , and performed stand-up comedy . He was influenced by fellow student and Anglican priest Peter Thomson , who awakened his religious faith and left-wing politics. While at Oxford, Blair has stated that he
4134-468: The Titans taking over from Logan and Balding. The total raised on the night of broadcast was £55,444,906. Sport Relief 2018 took place from Saturday 17 to Friday 23 March 2018 and was broadcast live from dock10 studios . The total raised on the night of broadcast was £38,195,278. Sport Relief 2020 was held from Monday 9 to Friday 13 March 2020. Gary Lineker and Paddy McGuinness returned as hosts for
4240-560: The UK , and significant progress in the Northern Ireland peace process with the passing of the landmark Good Friday Agreement . On foreign policy, Blair oversaw British interventions in Kosovo in 1999 and Sierra Leone in 2000 , which were generally perceived to be successful. Blair won a second term after Labour won a second landslide victory in the 2001 general election . Three months into his second term , Blair's premiership
4346-731: The UK Singles Chart. The final total raised during Sport Relief 2006 was £18 million. Sport Relief moved to March in 2008. BBC One 's night of fundraising was held on Friday 14 March and the Sport Relief Miles took place all around the UK on Sunday 16 March. It was presented on stage by Richard Hammond , Gary Lineker & Davina McCall . Bruce Forsyth & Tess Daly presented Sport Relief Does Strictly Come Dancing . Richard Hammond , Jeremy Clarkson & James May presented Top Ground Gear Force . Jimmy Carr presented A Question of Sport Relief with
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4452-547: The breakaway SDP faction had merged with the Liberal Party ; the resulting Liberal Democrats seemed to pose a major threat to the Labour base. Blair, the leader of the modernising faction, had an entirely different vision, arguing that the long-term trends had to be reversed. The Labour Party was too locked into a base that was shrinking, since it was based on the working-class, on trade unions, and on residents of subsidised council housing. The rapidly growing middle-class
4558-589: The country. The former government advisor Andrew Neather in the Evening Standard stated that the deliberate policy of ministers from late 2000 until early 2008 was to open up the UK to mass migration. Neather later stated that his words had been twisted, saying: "The main goal was to allow in more migrant workers at a point when – hard as it is to imagine now – the booming economy was running up against skills shortages.... Somehow this has become distorted by excitable Right-wing newspaper columnists into being
4664-475: The education and health sectors; introduced student tuition fees ; introduced a welfare to work scheme and sought to reduce certain categories of welfare payments. He did not reverse the privatisation of the railways enacted by his predecessor John Major and instead strengthened regulation (by creating the Office of Rail Regulation ) and limited fare rises to inflation +1%. Blair and Brown raised spending on
4770-558: The end of 1954, Blair's parents and their two sons moved from Paisley Terrace to Adelaide , South Australia . His father lectured in law at the University of Adelaide . In Australia, Blair's sister, Sarah, was born. The Blairs lived in the suburb of Dulwich close to the university. The family returned to the United Kingdom in mid-1958. They lived for a time with Hazel's mother and stepfather (William McClay) at their home in Stepps on
4876-498: The end of the 1990–92 recession . At the 1996 Labour Party conference, Blair stated that his three top priorities on coming to office were "education, education, and education". Aided by the unpopularity of John Major's Conservative government (itself deeply divided over the European Union ), Blair won a landslide victory for Labour at the 1997 general election , ending eighteen years of Conservative Party government, with
4982-544: The event, in which parts of the program could be viewed in other countries including sketches from Miranda , Outnumbered , Smithy , and " David Walliams Swims the Thames ". Sport Relief 2014 took place from Friday 21 to Sunday 23 March 2014. The official campaign launch took place on Tuesday 21 January 2014. The Annual Live Telethon was broadcast live from the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park for
5088-593: The executive chairman of the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change since 2016 and has made occasional political interventions, and has been a key influence on Keir Starmer . In 2009, Blair was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by George W. Bush . He was made a Knight Companion of the Garter by Queen Elizabeth II in 2022. At various points in his premiership, Blair was among both
5194-543: The fact that Labour was fighting a legal action against planned boundary changes, and had selected candidates on the basis of previous boundaries. When the legal challenge failed, the party had to rerun all selections on the new boundaries; most were based on existing seats, but unusually in County Durham a new Sedgefield constituency had been created out of Labour-voting areas which had no obvious predecessor seat. The selection for Sedgefield did not begin until after
5300-478: The family's grocery shop to Blair's mother, Hazel. Blair has an elder brother, William , and a younger sister, Sarah. Blair's first home was with his family at Paisley Terrace in the Willowbrae area of Edinburgh. During this period, his father worked as a junior tax inspector whilst studying for a law degree from the University of Edinburgh . Blair's first relocation was when he was nineteen months old. At
5406-867: The final stage of a long term shift of the Labour Party to the right. There is some evidence that Blair's long term dominance of the centre forced his Conservative opponents to shift a long distance to the left to challenge his hegemony there. Leading Conservatives of the post-New Labour era hold Blair in high regard: George Osborne describes him as "the master", Michael Gove thought he had an "entitlement to conservative respect" in February 2003, while David Cameron reportedly maintained Blair as an informal adviser. Former Conservative Party Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher declared Blair and New Labour to be her greatest achievement. Blair introduced significant constitutional reforms; promoted new rights for gay people; and signed treaties integrating Britain more closely with
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#17327917337975512-458: The first time, on Friday 21 March. It was hosted by Gary Lineker , David Walliams , Davina McCall , Fearne Cotton , Jack Whitehall and Claudia Winkleman . The Clash of the Titans was hosted by Gabby Logan and Clare Balding . In January 2014, the BBC announced that the 2014 edition of its Sport Relief broadcast on 21 March 2014 would feature a new Only Fools and Horses sketch . During
5618-499: The growth to investments in education and the maintenance of fiscal responsibility, rather than a financial sugar-high. During his time as prime minister, Blair kept direct taxes low, while raising indirect taxation; invested a significant amount in Human capital ; introduced a National Minimum Wage and some new employment rights (while keeping Margaret Thatcher 's trade union reforms). He introduced substantial market-based reforms in
5724-472: The heaviest Conservative defeat since 1906 . In 1996, the manifesto New Labour, New Life for Britain was published, which set out the party's new " Third Way " centrist approach to policy, and was presented as the brand of a newly reformed party that had altered Clause IV and endorsed market economics . In May 1995, Labour had achieved considerable success in the local and European elections and had won four by-elections. For Blair, these achievements were
5830-566: The highlights of the campaign came at the end of the final of the Stella Artois tennis championship when there was a surprise additional match for Sport Relief between the Prime Minister, Tony Blair and Pat Cash against Ilie Năstase and Alistair McGowan . Blair and Cash won the specially reduced set 4–1. Tony Hawks was the courtside commentator and the game was shown live on Sunday Grandstand . The second Sport Relief
5936-542: The independent school Fettes College , studied law at St John's College, Oxford , and qualified as a barrister. He became involved in the Labour Party and was elected to the House of Commons in 1983 for the Sedgefield constituency in County Durham . As a backbencher , Blair supported moving the party to the political centre of British politics . He was appointed to Neil Kinnock 's shadow cabinet in 1988 and
6042-474: The invasion helped promote the rise of ISIS . The Chilcot Inquiry report of 2016 gave a damning assessment of Blair's role in the Iraq War, though the former prime minister again refused to apologise for his decision to back the US-led invasion. One of Blair's first acts as prime minister was to replace the then twice-weekly 15-minute sessions of Prime Minister's Questions held on Tuesdays and Thursdays with
6148-435: The leadership election. Whether this is true or not, the relationship between Blair and Brown was central to the fortunes of New Labour , and they mostly remained united in public, despite reported serious private rifts. During his speech at the 1994 Labour Party conference, Blair announced a forthcoming proposal to update the party's objects and objectives, which was widely interpreted to relate to replacing Clause IV of
6254-414: The left. Like Tony Benn , Blair believed that the "Labour right" was bankrupt, saying "[s]ocialism ultimately must appeal to the better minds of the people. You cannot do that if you are tainted overmuch with a pragmatic period in power." Yet, he saw the hard left as no better, saying: There is an arrogance and self-righteousness about many of the groups on the far left which is deeply unattractive to
6360-415: The main evening show on BBC One at 7pm. Gary Lineker , Chris Evans and Davina McCall were the hosts for the entire evening. Once again the programme came live from TC1 at Television Centre and featured its biggest line up of names to date. The second half was back on BBC One from 22.30 to 01.00. It included golf legend Nick Faldo competing against Lineker and Evans in a comedy pitching competition on
6466-527: The most popular and most unpopular politicians in British history. As prime minister, he achieved the highest recorded approval ratings during his first few years in office but also one of the lowest ratings during and after the Iraq War. Blair is usually rated as above average in historical rankings and public opinion of British prime ministers. Anthony Charles Lynton Blair was born on 6 May 1953 at Queen Mary Maternity Home in Edinburgh , Scotland. He
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#17327917337976572-616: The need was greatest. They were made by BBC Bristol and included Nick Knowles in Africa, Patrick Kielty in India and Victoria Beckham in Peru. The campaign itself involved 253 celebrities and raised £16 million. The final total on the night of the telethon was £11,078,359. The third Sport Relief took place on Saturday 15 July 2006 with a whole day of programming across the BBC that culminated in
6678-588: The new judges, Saturday Kitchen with the English football team QI , A Question of Sport with Sue Barker as you have never seen her before, Celebrity Juice , Mo Farah takes on the race of his life against Misery Bear, 8 out of 10 Cats , Mock the Week , Kate Moss , Stella McCartney , Colin Jackson and Linford Christie are among the star names appearing with Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley in
6784-433: The night of broadcast was £50,447,197. In January 2012, there was a series called The Great Sport Relief Bake Off , which had celebrities competing. Anita Rani won the series, which also featured Angela Griffin , Arlene Phillips , Sarah Hadland , James Wong , Saira Khan , Pearl Lowe , Joe Swift and Fi Glover amongst the other contestants who took part. Another series of Let's Dance for Sport Relief ran up to
6890-516: The night was £10,072,068. Other items were Sport in the Square where cast members from EastEnders and Holby City / Casualty took part in a series of sporting challenges, Runaround , with Johnny Vegas , music from Gareth Gates and Will Young and contributions from Nick Hancock , Patrick Kielty , Angus Deayton , Ronni Ancona , Alistair McGowan , Audley Harrison , Alec Stewart , Tanni Grey-Thompson and Sir Steve Redgrave . One of
6996-694: The official campaign launch. John Bishop and Sebastian Coe competed against each other for the Clash of the Titans event at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park along with their celebrity teams. The total raised on the night of broadcast was £51,242,186. Sport Relief 2016 took place from Friday 18 to Sunday 20 March 2016. The Sport Relief Mile and Swimathon both returned. John Bishop , Gary Lineker , David Walliams , Claudia Winkleman , Davina McCall , Greg James and Alesha Dixon hosted. Ore Oduba and Dan Walker hosted Clash of
7102-540: The opposition. It was the first victory for the Labour Party in nearly 23 years, the last one being in October 1974 . During his first term , Blair enacted constitutional reforms and significantly increased public spending on healthcare and education while also introducing controversial market-based reforms in these areas. In addition, Blair saw the introduction of a minimum wage , tuition fees for higher education, constitutional reform such as devolution in Scotland and Wales , an extensive expansion of LGBT+ rights in
7208-404: The ordinary would-be member ... There's too much mixing only with people [with] whom they agree. With a general election due, Blair had not been selected as a candidate anywhere. He was invited to stand again in Beaconsfield, and was initially inclined to agree but was advised by his head of chambers Derry Irvine to find somewhere else which might be winnable. The situation was complicated by
7314-434: The outskirts of north-east Glasgow. Blair's father accepted a job as a lecturer at Durham University , and moved the family to Durham when Blair was five. It was the beginning of a long association Blair was to have with Durham. Since childhood, Blair has been a fan of Newcastle United Football Club . With his parents basing their family in Durham, Blair attended the Chorister School from 1961 to 1966. Aged 13, he
7420-427: The party was ascendant over the Conservatives in the opinion polls, since the Conservative government's reputation in monetary policy declined as a result of the Black Wednesday economic disaster of September 1992. Blair's election as leader saw Labour support surge higher still in spite of the continuing economic recovery and fall in unemployment that the Conservative government (led by John Major ) had overseen since
7526-437: The party's constitution with a new statement of aims and values. This involved the deletion of the party's stated commitment to "the common ownership of the means of production and exchange", which was generally understood to mean wholesale nationalisation of major industries. At a special conference in April 1995, the clause was replaced by a statement that the party is " democratic socialist ", and Blair also claimed to be
7632-597: The party. He stood as a candidate for the Hackney council elections of 1982 in Queensbridge ward, a safe Labour area, but was not selected. In 1982, Blair was selected as the Labour Party candidate for the safe Conservative seat of Beaconsfield , where there was a forthcoming by-election. Although Blair lost the Beaconsfield by-election and Labour's share of the vote fell by ten percentage points, he acquired
7738-473: The right of the political spectrum. The Financial Times argued that Blair is not conservative but instead a populist . Critics and admirers tend to agree that Blair's electoral success was based on his ability to occupy the centre ground and appeal to voters across the political spectrum, to the extent that he has been fundamentally at odds with traditional Labour Party values. Some left-wing critics, such as Mike Marqusee in 2001, argued that Blair oversaw
7844-565: The right to adopt and enacted several anti-discrimination policies into law. In 2014 he was proclaimed a "gay icon" by the Gay Times . The New Labour government increased police powers by adding to the number of arrestable offences, compulsory DNA recording and the use of dispersal orders. Under Blair's government the amount of new legislation increased which attracted criticism. He also introduced tough anti-terrorism and identity card legislation . Blair has been credited with overseeing
7950-430: The roof of the studio where they had to get their balls into the mouths of giant cut outs of Bruce Forsyth and Jimmy Tarbuck , the second part of A Question of Sport Relief , Jon Culshaw 's live performance as George W. Bush , Catherine Tate in a new football sketch as Joanie "Nan" Taylor from The Catherine Tate Show and Sir Steve Redgrave and Colin Jackson taking part in a live power pint competition. There
8056-447: The slogan " One member, one vote ", John Smith, with limited input from Blair, secured an end to the trade union block vote for Westminster candidate selection at the 1993 conference. But Blair and the modernisers wanted Smith to go further still, and called for radical adjustment of Party goals by repealing " Clause IV ", the historic commitment to nationalisation of industry. This would be achieved in 1995. John Smith died suddenly of
8162-502: The sporting names who also appeared live on the show. The show also included highlights of some of the Sport Relief Miles which had attracted 81,000 at giant and local events in all parts of the UK. Jo Brandy was on hand to represent them and talk about her experiences at the Brighton Mile. Throughout the night, there were also a whole series of appeal films to show where the Sport Relief money had already been spent and where
8268-494: The studio, Jon Culshaw unveiled his Wayne Rooney impersonation, and Paul Whitehouse's Ron Manager interrogated David Beckham about his texting technique. Eamonn Holmes was the host when Rugby took on Football with teams that included Dion Dublin , Lee Sharpe , Martin Offiah and Matt Dawson and in this year's Celebrity Boxing Ben Fogle beat Sid Owen . Colin Jackson , Sir Steve Redgrave and Arsène Wenger were amongst
8374-487: The team captains Sue Barker and Gary Lineker . Sir Alan Sugar presented Sport Relief Does the Apprentice . There were occasional appearances by Jonathan Ross , Jimmy Carr , Michael Parkinson , Patrick Kielty , Claudia Winkleman & Tess Daly . The BBC presented another version of Sport Relief Does the Apprentice with 10 celebrities. Also, new for this year, a special episode of Strictly Come Dancing
8480-481: The telethon weekend for five weeks. It was won by Rowland Rivron who danced to " Weapon of Choice " by Fatboy Slim . A new series of Sport Relief Does Glee Club started on Monday 12 March running with one episode each weekday. The first eight episodes were 30 minutes long then there was a live semi-final and final, on Sport Relief day, which were 45 minutes long. Segments of this and past Sport Relief events aired as part of Sport Relief Goes Global weeks after
8586-671: The television show airing on 23 March 2012. On the night, there were specials from Outnumbered with Frank Lampard and Christine Bleakley , Miranda at Royal Albert Hall Tennis Tournament with many sports stars, Twenty Twelve with Zara Phillips and Sir Steve Redgrave talking about how they should advertise the Olympics on Sport Relief , Strictly Come Dancing Underwater with Chelsee Healey and Harry Judd , Horrible Histories and Stephen Fry with Amir Khan and Jermain Defoe , Benidorm meets Britain's Got Talent with
8692-485: The three weeks before the telethon, Sport Relief's Top Dog aired on BBC Two with Gaby Roslin as host. The Sport Relief Mile was joined by three major cycling events (in London, Manchester and Glasgow) and over 600 Swimathons , under the umbrella title of "The Sport Relief Games". The main public faces of the three sections of the "games" were Jessica Ennis-Hill , Ellie Simmonds and Chris Hoy . Advance entry opened on 24 September 2013, nearly four months ahead of
8798-610: The tide against the rebel forces; before deployment, the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone had been on the verge of collapse. Palliser had been intended as an evacuation mission but Brigadier David Richards was able to convince Blair to allow him to expand the role; at the time, Richards' action was not known and Blair was assumed to be behind it. Blair ordered Operation Barras , a highly successful SAS / Parachute Regiment strike to rescue hostages from
8904-694: The traditional form of accepting the Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds , to which he was appointed by Brown in one of the latter's last acts as chancellor; the resulting by-election was won by Labour candidate Phil Wilson . Blair decided not to issue a list of Resignation Honours , making him the first prime minister of the modern era not to do so. In 2001, Blair said, "We are a left of centre party, pursuing economic prosperity and social justice as partners and not as opposites." Blair rarely applies such labels to himself; he promised before
9010-401: The world was safer as a result of the invasion. He said there was "no real difference between wanting regime change and wanting Iraq to disarm: regime change was US policy because Iraq was in breach of its UN obligations." In an October 2015 CNN interview with Fareed Zakaria , Blair apologised for his "mistakes" over the Iraq War and admitted there were "elements of truth" to the view that
9116-490: Was Member of Parliament (MP) for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007, and was special envoy of the Quartet on the Middle East from 2007 to 2015. He is the second- longest-serving prime minister in post-war British history after Margaret Thatcher , the longest-serving Labour politician to have held the office, and the first and only person to date to lead the party to three consecutive general election victories. Blair attended
9222-492: Was " Your Song ", re-recorded as a duet by original artist Elton John and Italian opera singer Alessandro Safina , reaching number 4 on the chart. In 2004, " Some Girls " by Rachel Stevens made it to number 2 and in 2006, the third ever Sport Relief single, " Don't Stop Me Now "/" Please, Please " by McFly , was the first to top the UK Singles Chart , selling 36,496 units in the week ending 29 July 2006. In 2008,
9328-455: Was a member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament , despite never strongly being in favour of unilateral nuclear disarmament . Blair was helped on the campaign trail by soap opera actress Pat Phoenix , his father-in-law's girlfriend. At the age of thirty, he was elected as MP for Sedgefield in 1983; despite the party's landslide defeat at the general election . In his maiden speech in
9434-455: Was accused of misleading Parliament, and his popularity dropped as a result, with Labour's overall majority at the 2005 election reduced from 167 to 66 seats. As a combined result of the Blair–Brown pact , the Iraq War and low approval ratings, pressure built up within the Labour Party for Blair to resign. Over the summer of 2006, many MPs criticised Blair for not calling for a ceasefire in
9540-655: Was aligned with the reforming tendencies in the party (headed by leader Neil Kinnock) and in 1988 was promoted to the shadow Trade and Industry team as spokesman on the City of London . In 1987, he stood for election to the Shadow Cabinet , receiving 71 votes. When Kinnock resigned after a fourth consecutive Conservative victory in the 1992 general election , Blair became shadow home secretary under John Smith . The old guard argued that trends showed they were regaining strength under Smith's strong leadership. Meanwhile,
9646-506: Was also the first prime minister born after the Second World War and the accession of Elizabeth II to the throne. With victories in 1997, 2001, and 2005, Blair was the Labour Party's longest-serving prime minister, and the first person (and the only one, to date) to lead the party to three consecutive general election victories. His contribution towards assisting the Northern Ireland peace process by helping to negotiate
9752-518: Was also the last ever edition of Footballer's Wives which had been transferred from ITV for the night and included a guest appearance by Graham Norton as Brendan Spunk, José González performed in the studio, several members of the Sport Relief Red Socks cricket team were there to talk about their tour to India, including Harry Judd , Nick Hancock , Nick Knowles , Jack Russell and Phil Tufnell whilst Derek Acorah starred in
9858-452: Was appointed shadow home secretary by John Smith in 1992. Following Smith's death in 1994, Blair won a leadership election to succeed him. As leader, Blair began a historic rebranding of the party, which became known as " New Labour ". Blair became the youngest prime minister of the 20th century after his party won a landslide victory of 418 seats (the largest in its history) in the 1997 general election , bringing an end to 18 years in
9964-451: Was briefly a Trotskyist , after reading the first volume of Isaac Deutscher 's biography of Leon Trotsky , which was "like a light going on". He graduated from Oxford at the age of 22 in 1975 with a second-class Honours B.A. in jurisprudence. In 1975, while Blair was at Oxford, his mother Hazel died aged 52 of thyroid cancer , which greatly affected him. After Oxford, Blair served his barrister pupillage at Lincoln's Inn , where he
10070-575: Was called to the Bar. He met his future wife, Cherie Booth , at the chambers founded by Derry Irvine (who was to be Blair's first lord chancellor), 11 King's Bench Walk Chambers. Blair joined the Labour Party shortly after graduating from Oxford in 1975. In the early 1980s, he was involved in Labour politics in Hackney South and Shoreditch , where he aligned himself with the " soft left " of
10176-434: Was initially a failure when it relied solely on air strikes; the threat of a ground offensive convinced Serbia's Slobodan Milošević to withdraw. Blair had been a major advocate for a ground offensive, which Bill Clinton was reluctant to do, and ordered that 50,000 soldiers – most of the available British Army – should be made ready for action. The following year, the limited Operation Palliser in Sierra Leone swiftly swung
10282-494: Was largely ignored, especially the more ambitious working-class families. They aspired to middle-class status but accepted the Conservative argument that Labour was holding ambitious people back with its levelling-down policies. They increasingly saw Labour in terms defined by the opposition, regarding higher taxes and higher interest rates. The steps towards what would become New Labour were procedural but essential. Calling on
10388-438: Was nominated by the branch. At the last minute, he was added to the shortlist and won the selection over Huckfield. It was the last candidate selection made by Labour before the election, and was made after the Labour Party had issued biographies of all its candidates ("Labour's Election Who's Who"). John Burton became Blair's election agent and one of his most trusted and longest-standing allies. Blair's election literature in
10494-433: Was on Saturday 10 July 2004. The main show was on BBC One from 19.00 to 00.30. The first half was presented by Gary Lineker and Gabby Logan and the second half by Jamie Theakston and Tess Daly . In the first half of the show (19.00–21.00), Cilla Black hosted a celebrity version of Inter-Channel Superstars where the BBC squad took on teams from ITV, Channel 4 and Five, the stars of Strictly Come Dancing performed
10600-427: Was presented by Gary Lineker , Ulrika Jonsson , Jamie Theakston and Clare Balding and included Stephen Fry hosting a special edition of They Think It's a Question of Sport , John Inverdale and Suzi Perry resurrecting the classic 1970s series Superstars and the first ever bout of Celebrity Boxing when Bob Mortimer beat Les Dennis . The first event took place on Saturday 13 July 2002. The final total on
10706-447: Was presented by John Inverdale and Colin Jackson and drew an audience of almost a million with an 18% share. Among the 20,000 participants who took part at London's Embankment were Lord Coe , Dame Kelly Holmes , Sportacus , McFly , Michael Watson , Tessa Sanderson , G4 , Jamie Oliver and Sadie Frost . biennial Biennial means (an event) lasting for two years or occurring every two years. The related term biennium
10812-644: Was rapid. Neil Kinnock appointed him in 1984 as assistant Treasury spokesman under Roy Hattersley who was Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer . In May 1985, he appeared on the BBC's Question Time , arguing that the Conservative Government's Public Order White Paper was a threat to civil liberties. Blair demanded an inquiry into the Bank of England 's decision to rescue the collapsed Johnson Matthey bank in October 1985. By this time, Blair
10918-511: Was sent to spend his school term-time boarding at Fettes College in Edinburgh from 1966 to 1971. According to Blair, he hated his time at Fettes. His teachers were unimpressed with him; his biographer, John Rentoul , reported that "[a]ll the teachers I spoke to when researching the book said he was a complete pain in the backside and they were very glad to see the back of him." Blair reportedly modelled himself on Mick Jagger , lead singer of
11024-782: Was shaped by the 9/11 terrorist attacks , resulting in the start of the war on terror . Blair supported the foreign policy of the George W. Bush administration by ensuring that the British Armed Forces participated in the War in Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban , destroy al-Qaeda , and capture Osama bin Laden . Blair supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq and had the British Armed Forces participate in
11130-608: Was shown. That year's Celebrity Boxing saw Ben Shephard of GMTV beat Lemar on judge's vote. The final total raised on the television broadcast was £19,640,321. During the telethon, a mystery donor donated £5.5million to the charity. Sport Relief was broadcast on 19–21 March 2010. The appeal show was aired as usual on BBC One and BBC Two on 19 March from 19:00 to 01:30. A special of Strictly Come Dancing (filmed on The Live Tour on Saturday 6 February) aired as well as Let's Dance for Sport Relief . On CBBC there were special shows dedicated to Sport Relief including
11236-610: Was the second son of Leo and Hazel ( née Corscadden ) Blair. Leo Blair was the illegitimate son of two entertainers and was adopted as a baby by the Glasgow shipyard worker James Blair and his wife, Mary. Hazel Corscadden was the daughter of George Corscadden, a butcher and Orangeman who moved to Glasgow in 1916. In 1923, he returned to (and later died in) Ballyshannon , County Donegal, in Ireland . In Ballyshannon, Corscadden's wife, Sarah Margaret (née Lipsett), gave birth above
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