On this day - 2 May
Historical items of interest as featured in the papers of the day.
Tony Blair becomes Prime Minister
Tony Blair became Prime Minister of the UK on May 2nd 1997, having won with an overwhelming majority of votes for Labour in the general election. Labour won the election again in 2001 and 2005. Tony Blair remained Prime Minister from 1997 until his resignation in 2007. He is the only Labour leader to lead the Labour party to win three general elections consecutively.
Many changes had occurred in the Labour party leading up to Blair's election. He had taken over leadership of the Labour party in 1994 following the sudden death of the previous leader, John Smith. Blair then acted to update the party's manifesto and policies.
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