Some of the Labour party's key players.

Tony Blair was born on 6 May 1953 and was elected leader of the Labour Party on 21 July 1994 as MP for Sedgefield.

He entered Parliament in June 1983 at the age of 30 and was promoted to the Treasury front bench team in 1985. In 1987 he became spokesperson on trade and industry with special responsibility for consumer affairs and the City.

He was elected to the shadow cabinet in 1988, and was appointed shadow secretary of state for energy. In the following year he was made Shadow Secretary of State for Employment, and forged a new industrial relations policy which ended Labour's support for the closed shop.

Following the general election defeat in 1992, the late leader John Smith appointed him shadow home secretary. He successfully wrested the law and order issue from the Conservatives. A strategy based on the slogan 'tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime' was Labour's key campaigning theme that year.

In September 1992 he was elected to Labour's National Executive Committee, the ruling body of the party. He led, with John Prescott, the drive to turn Labour into a mass-membership party, and by 1997 Labour had more than 400,000 members.

On his election as leader in 1994, he moved quickly to bring in the essential reforms of the party’s constitution and policies, notably replacing Clause IV which was overwhelmingly backed by the party at a special conference in April 1995.

In 1996 Tony Blair presented to the party the draft manifesto new Labour, new life for Britain, which set out clearly what new Labour would offer in government.

On May 1 1997 Tony Blair led the Labour Party to its biggest ever general election victory - the party had a majority of 179. On 7 June 2001 he led Labour to a second successive victory in a General Election, winning by another landslide. Labour won a majority of 167.

Before entering Parliament, he read law at St John's College, Oxford, he was called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1976, and practised as a barrister until 1983, specialising in employment and industrial law.

Gordon Brown, Chancellor of the exchequer

Gordon Brown is the country's longest-serving Chancellor and has been MP for Dunfermline East since 1983. Born in 1951, he was educated at Kirkcaldy High School and Edinburgh University, where he gained First Class Honours and then a Doctorate.

He was rector of Edinburgh University and chairman of the University Court between 1972 and 1975. From 1976 to 1980, Brown lectured at Edinburgh University and then Caledonian University before taking up a post at Scottish TV (1980-1983).

After becoming an MP, Mr Brown was the chairman of the Labour Party Scottish Council (1983-1984). Before becoming shadow chancellor in 1992, he held two other senior posts on the opposition front bench - shadow chief secretary to the Treasury (1987 - 1989) and shadow trade and industry secretary (1989-1992).

Charles Clarke, Home Secretary

Born in 1950, Clarke was president of the National Union of Students from 1975 to 1977. He gained extensive experience of local government in the London Borough of Hackney where he was chair of the housing committee and vice chair of economic development between 1980 and 1986.

He worked as a researcher and then chief of staff to former Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock from 1981 to 1992. From 1992 to 1997, Clarke was chief executive of Quality Public Affairs, a public affairs management consultancy, before his election as an MP for Norwich South in 1997.

Clarke was made parliamentary under secretary of state for school standards in July 1998. He was appointed minister of state at the Home Office on 29 July 1999 and became minister without portfolio and Labour party chairman in July 2001.

Jack Straw, foreign secretary

Straw was appointed Foreign Secretary on June 8, 2001 and has been the MP for Blackburn since 1979.

Born in 1946 and educated at Brentwood School, Essex and Leeds University, he was called to the Bar (Inner Temple) in 1972. He is a visiting Fellow of Nuffield College Oxford and a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society.

Straw was home secretary from 1997-2001 and was shadow home secretary from 1995 to 1997. From 1992-1994 he was shadow environment secretary and between 1987 and 1992, was shadow education secretary. From 1983-1987 he was opposition spokesman on local government and from 1980-1983 on treasury matters. He was a member of the Labour Party National Executive Committee from 1994-1995.

Straw was president of Leeds University Students' Union from 1967-1968 and of the National Union of Students from 1969-1971. From 1971 to 1974, he was a member of the Inner London Education Authority and deputy leader from 1973 to 1974.