Tony Blair announces his departure

Last Modified: 10 May 2007
By: Gary Gibbon

The end of the Blair era is announced: on 27 June 2007.

Sometimes, he said - the only way you conquer the pull of power is to set it down. It's not quite the end, perhaps - but the beginning of the farewell: as Tony Blair finally delivered his valediction.

In classic Blair style, - surrounded by supporters in his Sedgefield constituency - the Prime Minister offered an emotional defence of his decade in power: pride in his achievements, regrets he hadn't achieved more - apologies, even - for when he'd fallen short: but that sense of moral conviction running through it all.

The manner of his departure is now clear: he'll step down as PM on the 27th of June - ten years, he said, was enough for him, and certainly for the country.

Campbell: 'Politics isn't about euphoria'

Tony Blair's former communications director told Jon Snow tonight that expectations were raised too high when Blair came to power 10 years ago.
"I can remember on the night - 1 May 1997 - when seats were falling from Conservative to Labour that we hadn't even campaigned in. And I can remember Tony turning and saying: 'What on earth is going on here?' and it was a bigger landslide than any of us predicted."

"There was this sense of almost euphoria around the country - as if the world was going to be transformed to Jerusalem overnight. "

"Politics isn't about elation and euphoria. It's about hard graft and hard grind - and a lot of that hard graft and grind has led to better lives to for millions of people in this country."

- Watch the Alistair Campbell interview in full