Tony Blair was prime minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland between 1997 and 2007. The only Labour leader in the party's 100-year history to win three consecutive elections, he led a government whose achievements ranged from wholesale domestic reform, to a major programme of overseas aid and development, to the securing of the historic Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland. After leaving office he founded the not-for-profit Tony Blair Institute (TBI) in the conviction that a country's success and ability to enact transformational change is dependent on the effectiveness of its leadership and governance. Under his direction the Institute works with political leaders around the world, advising on strategy, policy and delivery - and on the use of technology to drive all three.
A brilliant, unusual book . . . What this book captures about Blair is not just his mastery of the political arts, but his infectious optimism about politics itself. The book is informed, intelligent and interesting — but it is more than that. It is the most practically useful guide to politics I have ever read . . . It’s the lifetime learnings of a once leader for current and future leaders. -- George Osborne * Financial Times * The book is engaging, insightful, provocative and derisive of “place-holder” leaders who lack the grit to be “a change-maker” -- Andrew Rawnsley * Observer * A fascinating treatise on leadership . . . The best bits of the book – and they are genuinely very good – are the passages offering advice on how to cope with the personal burdens of leadership, from dealing with the pressures of social media, to developing a hinterland, avoiding hubris, and knowing when to leave the stage . . . There is much to learn from On Leadership, and I am glad Blair has written it. It will fascinate anyone interested in the art of governing, even in the abstract – and represents a good investment of time for anyone in or aspiring to political leadership. -- Nicola Sturgeon * Guardian * ‘Tantalising, fascinating and insightful . . . worth reading if you want to understand why some governments and political movements succeed and others fail.’ -- Isabel Hardman * i news * ‘[Blair’s] institute has given him a perspective no other leading British politician can rival . . . The result is a profoundly non-insular analysis . . . full of practical advice . . . Useful and timely . . . [Blair] is a deeply thoughtful, highly experienced and self-critical man who deserves to be taken seriously by anyone interested in how democratic power is effectively wielded.’ -- Andrew Marr * The New Statesman *