Successes and Failures of Tony Blairs New Labour Government - Essay Example

? SUCCESSES AND FAILURES OF TONY BLAIR’S NEW LABOUR GOVERNMENT’S 1997-2007 By Location Tony Blair is recognized for the great work he did especially economically. History records that, he served as a Prime Minister from 1997 to 2007 in the United Kingdom. He was also a leader of the labour party. Because of his charisma, he was able to get the most votes that the party ever had since its establishment. He emerged victoriously in general elections held in 1997 with 418 seats. When he received the leadership position, he was against the traditional perception of socialism. He advocated for equal rights and equal opportunities for the citizens enhancing cohesion in the respective states. He was recognized for his work by different politicians for instance Margaret Thatcher the first Prime Minister referred to him as a great inventor for the great impact he had made in the labour party. He brought out his issues in controversial basis. History recognizes him as the most radical and boldest leader in British politics. The essay discusses in details the main successes and failures of Tony Blair. Primarily Tony Blair achievements are evident especially in the Labour Party. He fought for the rights of the citizens especially on the basis of income and their working conditions. In the 1960s, the National Minimum wage was raised to ?5.52. This was because of the charismatic nature of Tony. He made sure that poverty levels reduced and the economic life sustained on prosperity basis. History recognizes him as a peacemaker for instance, he stopped the genocide that was happening in Kosovo and also ended the violence that impacted negatively in Northern Ireland (Faucher & Le 2010, p. 10). His reforms brought a great impact in Britain. For instance, during his leadership as a prime minister the crime rates reduced by 32 per cent. In addition, the funding for the pupils in England doubled. Because of Tony Blair’s effort, Britain was modernized especially on the bases of economic development. During his leadership, economic growth was sustained for almost ten years. Different programmes came in to fund the economy of the country. All the expanding programmes were funded by the big corporation because of the stability of the government that was evident in the state. Taxes were distributed equally among the members of the community. Tony also facilitated the expansion of the public sector in comparison to the private sectors hence creating job opportunities in the government institutions. Different politicians came in to support the booming economy of Britain especially in the area of schools, public safety and hospitals. He embraced Margaret Thatcher’s idea of free market policies to enhance the development of the economy (Davis 2013, p. 26). He is also recognized for being able to keep peace especially in Northern Ireland. He advocated for a strong Europe economy. This is because he knew that, the economy was important to enhance the growth of the country. His introduction of the red tape procedures enhanced the administration of the economic sector. In 1999, he staged out a strategy on the international community doctrine, which happened in Chicago. In his strategy, Tony advocated for the development of the economy. He gave emphases on the development of public policies. Public policies were based on health care (Gauld 2009, p. 26). He advocated for the development of the society specifically on the economic bases. Different corporations supported the growth of the economy by investing directly to the economy. Through the leadership of Tony, funds were allocated for the development of the economy. Because of his charismatic nature, they the funds were allocated in different projects for instance in the building of schools. The labour party under the leadership of Tony has had different achievements in different sectors of the economy. During his leadership the economy of the country improved by the sustaining low inflation on the part of the government (Page 2007, p. 120). Different organizations were improved to ensure that, equality was sustained. This was made possible by the introduction of the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Pollution in the environment was reduced by the introduction of policies to reduce pollution in the environment. Thus ensuring that, the environment was maintained clean in the best way possible. Due to the creation of job opportunities in the public sectors, poverty levels reduced highly. Tony Blair gave a lot of his attention on education for the children. As a result of this, he expanded and reformed higher institute of learning such as universities. Thus, the number of university students doubled. Facilities in the learning institutions were provided to ensure that the learning process runs effectively. He introduced numerous education zones and numeracy strategies. He allowed charitable organizations to invest in schools, which performed poorly. This was one of the greatest reforms that resulted in a tripling of the academic performance of this school compared to the other schools. He emphasized on funding for different projects in the government. The rate of funding doubled with most people being able to fund the development of the schools for instance, construction activities. In addition, he introduced tuition fees, which created a cost effective system in the academic sector (Powell 2008 p. 99). Tony encouraged young people to join schools by laying down different reforms. These reforms included provision of free nursery education to the children. This encouraged more parents to take their children to school at a young age. In addition, free fruits were given to the young children to encourage them to attend the schools. Due to this literacy, levels among the children and youth increased, creating a stable economy. As a result of the early education most children joined higher institute of learning creating quality in the provision of their services in the job market. More teachers and support staff were recruited in schools to encourage education in the public schools (Powell 2008 p. 97). This showed that Tony as a Prime Minister ensured that, education was given an upper hand. In addition, he carried out reforms in the National Health Service. This was in the terms of the services they delivered to the people. In one of his speeches in 1999, he said that healthcare is more important than money. The rate of doctors increased to 85,000 and nurses doubled to 32,000. More schools were established to promote education for nurses and doctors. He invited more strategies for health care and investors in the health care sector. He allowed the finance administration to hold budgets on health matters and mostly strategies in providing finance to the health care. The hospital status for the patients was improved to ensure that, they lived in a good condition (Powell 2008 p. 94). History records that Tony’s government was the most effective and dysfunctional. One of the leaders Andrew Rawnsley says that Tony had great ambition but did not have great strategies to achieve the dreams. Anthony Seldom says that, Tony did not have an idea on how the government should run. This is because he had no experience in leadership because he had not held any office before he came to power. In one of his speeches, he clearly said that, the office of prime minister was the first governmental job he had. As stated above, Tony was a good peacemaker however; he was also recognized in promoting the war. For instance, thousands of innocent civilians died because he committed the British troops in the Iraq war as a result of the terrorist activities. The terrorist activities did not end but lengthened the duration of the war in Iraq (Faucher & Le 2010, p. 139). In addition, one of the most evident failures was his style of running the government. He did not discuss with his party members on different issues. That means he did not embrace collective decision-making. Historians say that, he did not run the cabinet efficiently. During his leadership, he was unable to overcome some of the radical leaders. For instance, Brown distracted him from delivering the public services to the civilians (Davis 2013, p. 271). One of the public service delayed due to Brown’s distraction was the introduction of hospitals. He objected this service to the public furiously. That means that Tony was unable to run the government effectively because he did not set up the strategies to be able to object any form of opposition that came in his way. In conclusion, history recognizes Tony Blaire for his contribution to the economy of Britain. His success and failures clearly defined his character as a leader. Although he had different failures as a leader, he brought great differences in the economy of his country. As discussed in the essay above his greatest weakness was his inability to confront Brown who prevented him from developing the public policies. He was also influential in causing the death of many innocent civilians during the war in Iraq. On the other hand as discussed in the essay above, we cannot overlook his successes. He promoted the growth of the economy. Through the implementation of different policies which led to the growth of the economy. Tony gave emphases on education thus setting up reforms to ensure that, education was given an upper hand in the country. He improved the healthcare by providing education opportunities for doctors and nurses. Regardless of Tony’s weaknesses, he is still recognized as one of the best British Prime Minister because of his successes. Bibliography Chitty, C. 2013. New labour and secondary education, 1994-2010. New York, NY, Palgrave Macmillan. http://www.palgraveconnect.com/doifinder/10.1057/9781137076328. Davis, C. 2013. Finance for housing: an introduction. Bristol, Policy Press. Faucher, F., & Le Gale?s, P. 2010. The New Labour experiment: change and reform under Blair and Brown. Stanford, Calif, Stanford University Press. Gauld, R. 2009. The new health policy. Maidenhead, Open University Press. Page, R. M. 2007. Revisiting the welfare state. Maidenhead, Open University Press. Powell, M. A. 2008. Modernising the welfare state: the Blair legacy. Bristol, Policy Press. Read More