Tony Blair

58 3.5

British politician who was Prime Minister from 1997 to 2007

proper noun

: Tony Blair

For their part, top police in the UK are traditionally deferential to the shibboleths of the ruling elite, hence the political correctness that consumed the various British police forces during the reign of Tony Blair's New Labour Party.
British Tony Blair
Prime Minister Tony Blair
Minister Tony Blair

Examples

Bush asks if he and British Prime Minister Tony Blair hadn't convinced Qaddafi to give up his weapons of mass destruction?

Academic text (2011)
Today, British Prime Minister Tony Blair emphasized the importance of climate change during his speech.
Craig Brown's parody of a Tony Blair speech, which begins, "Look, I'm listening."

Academic text (2011)
In 2002, then British Prime Minister Tony Blair launched the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, which called on resource-rich countries to publicly disclose their income.

Academic text (2011)
A new Palestinian effort, encouraged by the United States and Tony Blair, the official envoy of the Quartet (the European Union, the UN, the United States, and Russia), aimed to bring about rapid change and to increase PA control on the ground.

Academic text (2011)
By contrast, President George W. Bush stated in the wake of the 9/11 attacks that "Islam is peace" while British Prime Minister Tony Blair argued that the problem was not Islam but "extremists trying to hijack it for political purposes."

Academic text (2011)
In a recent conference, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair discussed global health initiatives.
During his tenure, British Prime Minister Tony Blair made significant changes to the education system.

Synonyms

Thatcher

vsTony Blair

61 5.1

A British government leader who led the United Kingdom as its first woman Prime Minister and supported conservative policies

is a later prime minister serving 1997 to 2007 with other policies

Margaret Thatcher

vsTony Blair

31 2.8

A British leader who was the first woman to be Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1979 to 1990

is a later prime minister serving 1997 to 2007 with different policies

Chamberlain

vsTony Blair

11 7.5

British Prime Minister before World War II who is known for trying to avoid war with Nazi Germany

is a later prime minister serving 1997 to 2007 with different foreign policy

Gladstone

vsTony Blair

6 7.4

A British leader who served four times as Prime Minister

is a later prime minister serving 1997 to 2007 in a different era

Neville Chamberlain

vsTony Blair

4 7.5

British prime minister from 1937 to 1940 who tried to avoid war with Germany

is a later prime minister serving 1997 to 2007 with contrasting stance

Clement Attlee

vsTony Blair

1 6.3

British Prime Minister after World War II who created public services like the National Health Service

is a later prime minister serving 1997 to 2007 with different reforms focus

Stanley Baldwin

vsTony Blair

1 6.4

A British politician who served three times as Prime Minister between the World Wars

is a later prime minister serving 1997 to 2007 in later politics

Surface Forms

Tony Blair main

Morphology

Tony + Blair

This is a proper name referring to a specific individual; knowing the components 'Tony' (a given name) and 'Blair' (a surname) does not allow a learner to infer the referent or the biographical meaning (British Prime Minister 1997–2007). Proper names are arbitrary and language-specific, so the overall meaning cannot be derived compositionally from the parts.

Etymology

Tony Blair belongs to the British prime minister who led the Labour Party to three election wins from 1997 to 2007. He made his party more modern and worked closely with other countries, so today Tony Blair often stands for a leader who 'modernizes' a party and favors close international ties.