Never say never: Blair’s return to politics is ‘open’

LONDON: Tony Blair is the most successful leader in Labour history - leading it to power in three successive elections in 1997, 2001 and 2005 - but after quitting

LONDON: Tony Blair is the most successful leader in Labour history - leading it to power in three successive elections in 1997, 2001 and 2005 - but after quitting politics, he says the question of his return to active politics is open.

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His remarks in an interview to Esquire magazine prompted a flurry of comments, recalling his legacy of taking Britain to war in Iraq, the strictures passed by the Chilcot Inquiry in July, and several alleged misdeeds during his prime ministership and after he left office in 2007. The reason Blair gave for not ruling out his return is the current state of Labour party under Jeremy Corbyn. Corbyn’s leadership and the change in the party under him had made Britain a one-party state, dominated by the Conservatives, he said.

He told the magazine that he was still trying to find a political role which would help the party become electable: “I don’t know if there’s a role for me. There’s a limit to what I want to say about my own position at this moment. All I can say is that this is where politics is at. Do I feel strongly about it? Yes, I do. Am I very motivated by that? Yes. Where do I go from here? What exactly do I do? That’s an open question.”