![Blair, Al Qasimi (6756578003)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Blair%2C_Al_Qasimi_%286756578003%29.jpg)
Cherie, Lady Blair, (; born 23 September 1954), also known professionally as Cherie Booth, is an English
barrister
A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...
and writer. She is married to the former
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern pr ...
,
Sir Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He pr ...
.
Early life and education
Booth was born on 23 September 1954 at
Fairfield General Hospital
Fairfield General Hospital is a hospital in Bury, Greater Manchester. It is managed by the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust.
History
The hospital has its origins in the Bury Union Workhouse Infirmary which was completed in 1905. The f ...
,
Bury, Lancashire
Bury ( ) is a market town on the River Irwell in Greater Manchester, England. Metropolitan Borough of Bury is administered from the town, which had an estimated population of 78,723 in 2015.
The town is within the Historic counties of Englan ...
, England, and brought up in Ferndale Road,
Waterloo, Merseyside, just north of
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
. Although her birth was registered as 'Cherie', owing to her maternal grandmother's influence, she was christened 'Theresa Cara' in deference to the requirement that she be given a saint's name. Her father, British actor
Tony Booth, left her mother, actress Gale Howard (née Joyce Smith; 14 February 1933 – 5 June 2016), when Cherie was 8 years old. Cherie and her younger sister Lyndsey were then brought up by Gale and their paternal grandmother Vera Booth, a devout
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
of Irish descent. The sisters attended Catholic schools in
Crosby Crosby may refer to:
Places
;Canada
*Crosby, Ontario, part of the township of Rideau Lakes, Ontario
*Crosby, Ontario, a neighbourhood in the city of Markham, Ontario
;England
*Crosby, Cumbria
*Crosby, Lincolnshire
*Crosby, Merseyside
** Crosby (U ...
, Merseyside. Cherie Booth attended
Seafield Convent Grammar, which is now part of
Sacred Heart Catholic College
Sacred Heart Catholic Academy is a Roman Catholic secondary school and sixth form located in Crosby, Merseyside, England. It was created from the amalgamation of Seafield Convent Grammar and St Bede's Secondary Modern in 1977, and was previousl ...
, where she achieved four As in her
A Levels
The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...
.
She read law at the
London School of Economics
, mottoeng = To understand the causes of things
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £240.8 million (2021)
, budget = £391.1 millio ...
and graduated with
First-Class Honours
The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...
. Later she was enrolled at the
College of Law
A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction.
Law degrees Argentina
In Argentina, ...
and passed her Bar Vocational Course.
[West, Karl (26 February 2012)]
"Law school's £200m sale"
. ''Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...
''. Retrieved 2 June 2016 (subscription needed for full access). She came at the top of her year in the bar exams, while teaching law at the
Polytechnic of Central London
, mottoeng = The Lord is our Strength
, type = Public
, established = 1838: Royal Polytechnic Institution 1891: Polytechnic-Regent Street 1970: Polytechnic of Central London 1992: University of Westminster
, endowment = £5.1 million ...
(University of Westminster). She was the Labour candidate for the Conservative
safe seat
A safe seat is an electoral district (constituency) in a legislative body (e.g. Congress, Parliament, City Council) which is regarded as fully secure, for either a certain political party, or the incumbent representative personally or a combinat ...
of
North Thanet
North Thanet is a constituency in Kent represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its 1983 creation by Sir Roger Gale, a Conservative.
History
North Thanet and South Thanet were created by a rearrangement of the former Th ...
in Kent in the
1983 general election, losing to
Roger Gale.
Legal career
A member of
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...
, she became a
barrister
A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...
in 1976 and
Queen's Counsel
In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...
in 1995. Until 1988, her head of chambers was
George Carman. In 1999, she was appointed a
recorder
Recorder or The Recorder may refer to:
Newspapers
* ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper
* ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US
* ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...
(a permanent part-time judge) in the
County Court
A county court is a court based in or with a jurisdiction covering one or more counties, which are administrative divisions (subnational entities) within a country, not to be confused with the medieval system of ''county courts'' held by the high ...
and
Crown Court
The Crown Court is the court of first instance of England and Wales responsible for hearing all Indictable offence, indictable offences, some Hybrid offence, either way offences and appeals lied to it by the Magistrates' court, magistrates' court ...
.
She was a founding member of
Matrix Chambers
Matrix Chambers is a barristers' chambers in Gray's Inn London, Brussels, and Geneva. Founded in April 2000 by 22 barristers from 7 different chambers, it now has over 90 independent and specialist lawyers who work throughout the UK and interna ...
in London but no longer practises there. Matrix was formed in 2000 specialising in
human rights law
International human rights law (IHRL) is the body of international law designed to promote human rights on social, regional, and domestic levels. As a form of international law, international human rights law are primarily made up of treaties, ag ...
, though members also practise in a range of areas of UK
public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...
and
private law
Private law is that part of a civil law legal system which is part of the ''jus commune'' that involves relationships between individuals, such as the law of contracts and torts (as it is called in the common law), and the law of obligations ( ...
, the
Law of the European Union
European Union law is a system of rules operating within the member states of the European Union (EU). Since the founding of the European Coal and Steel Community following World War II, the EU has developed the aim to "promote peace, its valu ...
and
European Convention on Human Rights
The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is an international convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by t ...
, and
public international law
International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...
. She is Founder and chair of law firm Omnia Strategy LLP.
She specialises in
employment
Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...
, discrimination, and public law and, in this capacity, has occasionally represented claimants taking cases against the UK Government.
Blair has appeared in a number of leading cases. A notable example, ''Lisa Grant v South West Trains Ltd'', before the
European Court of Justice
The European Court of Justice (ECJ, french: Cour de Justice européenne), formally just the Court of Justice, is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Un ...
concerned discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.
In January 2010, when sentencing a defendant, Shamso Miah, for assault, Blair announced that she would
suspend his prison sentence after describing him as a "religious man". The court heard that Miah had been to a mosque shortly before he broke a man's jaw following a row in a bank queue. Blair told Miah: "You are a religious man and you know this is not acceptable behaviour." This was interpreted by some observers as special leniency given on account of the criminal's religiosity. The
Office for Judicial Complaints released an initial statement saying they had "received a number of complaints in relation to the comments" that Blair had made when sentencing Shamso Miah and that the matter was under investigation. On 10 June 2010, the OJC released a statement saying that the investigation had "found that Recorder Booth's observations did not constitute judicial misconduct" and accordingly "no disciplinary action is necessary". A private letter to the
National Secular Society
The National Secular Society (NSS) is a British campaigning organisation that promotes secularism and the separation of church and state. It holds that no one should gain advantage or disadvantage because of their religion or lack of it. It was ...
said, however, that the OJC had taken action in the form of "informal advice" from a more senior judge.
In 2015, Blair defended
Rwanda
Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...
n spy chief
Emmanuel Karenzi Karake
Emmanuel Karenzi Karake is a Rwandan Lieutenant-General who is the former Secretary General of the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS).
Early years
Karake grew up in Uganda as a refugee from the former Rwandan government. He stud ...
against accusations that he had conspired to murder three Spanish NGO workers and a Canadian priest.
Karake had allegedly done so because the workers knew about the
Rwandan Patriotic Front
The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF–Inkotanyi, french: Front patriotique rwandais, FPR) is the ruling political party in Rwanda. Led by President Paul Kagame, the party has governed the country since its armed wing defeated government forces, winn ...
killing
Hutu
The Hutu (), also known as the Abahutu, are a Bantu ethnic or social group which is native to the African Great Lakes region. They mainly live in Rwanda, Burundi and the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where they form one of the prin ...
civilians in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
.
Blair launched a company called
Mee Healthcare
Mee or MEE may refer to:
* Mee (surname), surname list
* Maré Airport, via IATA code, airport in Maré, New Caledonia
* Mee (crater), a lunar impact crater
* MEE (psychedelic), organic compound, 2-methoxy-4,5-diethoxyamphetamine
* Mee (tribe), ...
with an American business partner Gail Lese in 2011. In June 2015, it ceased trading and all staff were dismissed without notice.
In 2021, Blair worked as an ethics adviser for Israeli security firm
NSO Group
NSO Group Technologies (NSO standing for Niv, Shalev and Omri, the names of the company's founders) is an Israeli cyber-intelligence firm primarily known for its proprietary spyware Pegasus, which is capable of remote zero-click surveillance ...
.
Career in academia
Blair was the third
Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University
The Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University is the titular head of the university who is appointed on the approval of the board of governors. The duties of the chancellor include the conferring of degrees at graduation ceremonies and bein ...
from 1999 to 2006. On 26 July 2006, she was awarded the honorary title of
Emerita Chancellor, as well as the university honorarily naming its new Cherie Booth Building. She is also Governor of the London School of Economics and the
Open University
The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...
. On 2 March 2011, Blair was appointed the Chancellor of the
Asian University for Women
Asian University for Women (AUW) is an independent, international university in Chittagong, Bangladesh seeking to educate a new generation of leaders in Asia. AUW admits students solely on the basis of merit, regardless of their family's incom ...
.
Blair is regularly invited to speak at legal and leadership conferences, and has in the past participated in the World Law Forum, ET Women's Forum, Yidan Prize Summit and the Commonwealth Africa Summit, amongst others.
Honours and charity work
In July 1999, Blair was awarded the honorary degree of
Doctor of the University
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...
(DUniv) from the
Open University
The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...
. Blair is a patron of
Breast Cancer Care, a UK breast cancer information and support charity,
Jospice, the international hospice organisation based in her home town of
Crosby Crosby may refer to:
Places
;Canada
*Crosby, Ontario, part of the township of Rideau Lakes, Ontario
*Crosby, Ontario, a neighbourhood in the city of Markham, Ontario
;England
*Crosby, Cumbria
*Crosby, Lincolnshire
*Crosby, Merseyside
** Crosby (U ...
, and disability charity
Scope
Scope or scopes may refer to:
People with the surname
* Jamie Scope (born 1986), English footballer
* John T. Scopes (1900–1970), central figure in the Scopes Trial regarding the teaching of evolution
Arts, media, and entertainment
* Cinem ...
. She is also involved with the British branch of
Child in Need India (CINI UK), and is the organisation's patron.
In 2008, she launched her foundation, the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, a development organisation that aims to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries. "Our mission is to provide women with the skills, technology, networks and access to capital that they need to become successful small and growing business owners, so that they can contribute to their economies and have a stronger voice in their societies," says its mission statement.
In 2010, Blair spoke at
WE Day
We Day (stylized as WE Day) was an annual series of stadium-sized youth empowerment events organized by We Charity (formerly known as Free The Children), a Canadian charity founded by brothers Marc and Craig Kielburger. WE Day events host tens ...
, an event held by
WE Charity
WE Charity (french: Organisme UNIS), formerly known as Free the Children (French: ''Enfants Entraide''), is an international development charity and youth empowerment movement founded in 1995 by human rights advocates Marc and Craig Kielburger ...
as part of their ongoing effort to empower youth and encourage them to get involved in their communities.
She was appointed
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(CBE) in the
2013 New Year Honours
The New Year Honours 2013 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Hon ...
for services to women's issues and charity.
In June 2018, “Cherie Blair Foundation for Women” was inducted into Power Brands LIFE – Hall of Fame at the London International Forum for Equality.
Controversies
In 2002, Blair purchased two flats in
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
with the assistance, it was alleged but later denied, of
Peter Foster
Peter Clarence Foster (born 1962) is an Australian career criminal who has been imprisoned in Australia, Britain, the United States, and Vanuatu for a variety of offences related to weight loss and other scams as well as absconding from justic ...
, a convicted Australian
conman
A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have def ...
and boyfriend of Blair's friend
Carole Caplin, who negotiated a discount for Blair.
["Cherie says 'sorry' for Foster dealings"]
, BBC, 10 December 2002. Blair publicly apologised for her embarrassing connection to Foster, stating "I did not think it was my business to choose my friends' friends".
Her relationship with Caplin gave rise to headlines in some newspapers, as Caplin is credited with introducing Blair to various
New Age
New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars conside ...
symbols and beliefs. Reports of Blair's New Age practices included an account of her 2001 holiday in Mexico, when she and her husband, wearing only swimming costumes, privately took part in a rebirthing procedure that involved smearing mud and fruit over each other's bodies while sitting in a steam bath.
[''How Mumbo-Jumbo Conquered the World'', ]Francis Wheen
Francis James Baird Wheen (born 22 January 1957) is a British journalist, writer and broadcaster.
Early life and education
Wheen was born into an army familyNicholas Wro"A life in writing" ''The Guardian'', 29 August 2009 and educated at two ind ...
, Harper Perennial 2004,
In 2002, she apologised after saying within hours of a
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
blast that killed at least 19 people in reference to the
Palestinian
Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
suicide bombers
A suicide attack is any violent attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have occurred throughout histor ...
: "As long as young people feel they have no hope but to blow themselves up, we're never going to make progress, are we?"
On 12 December 2008, Blair gave a lecture alternatively entitled "The Church and Women's Rights: time for a fresh perspective?" or "Religion as a Force in protecting Women's Human Rights"
at the
Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, ''Angelicum'', in Rome.
In summer 2015, in the wake of the
Hillary Clinton email controversy
During her tenure as United States Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton drew controversy by using a private email server for official public communications rather than using official State Department email accounts maintained on federal servers ...
, Blair was revealed by ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' to have lobbied Clinton in 2009 on behalf of prominent members of the Qatari monarchy; Clinton was US Secretary of State at the time.
In a letter to the newspaper, Blair denied this characterisation of her mediation efforts, describing their story as "sensationalist and inaccurate".
Precisely two months later, the release of another batch of Clinton's private emails confirmed that Blair had, indeed, arranged meetings with Clinton for the Qataris outside normal diplomatic channels, with discussions to involve "the
US/Qatar relationship generally", not merely joint philanthropic efforts. In one case, Blair herself stated that her purpose was to help the eldest of
Sheikha Mosah's sons,
Jassim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani
Jassim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani ( ar, جاسم بن حمد بن خليفة آل ثاني; born 25 August 1978) is the former heir apparent of Qatar. He is the third son of the former Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, and the ...
, "build up an international profile".
In summer 2015, Blair's law firm accepted a large fee to advise the
Maldives
Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...
government as it faced a challenge from former Maldivian president
Mohamed Nasheed
Mohamed Nasheed GCSK (; born 17 May 1967) is a Maldivian politician and activist currently serving as the 19th speaker of the People's Majlis since May 2019. A founding member of the Maldivian Democratic Party, he served as President of the ...
over his imprisonment for "terrorism". Nasheed, who served from 2008 to 2012 as his country's
first democratically elected leader, had received a 13-year prison sentence after a widely criticised trial.
Personal life
Family
![Cherie and Euan Blair -Red Bull Air Race -London -28July2007 (2)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Cherie_and_Euan_Blair_-Red_Bull_Air_Race_-London_-28July2007_%282%29.jpg)
In 1976, while she was studying to become a barrister, she met future prime minister and husband
Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
. She obtained a
pupillage
A pupillage, in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, Kenya, Malaysia, Pakistan and Hong Kong, is the final, vocational stage of training for those wishing to become practising barristers. Pupillage is similar to an apprenticeship, during which bar ...
in the chambers of
Derry Irvine ahead of him, although he was also taken on. Married on 29 March 1980, the Blairs have three sons and one daughter:
Euan
Euan is a Scottish, male given name, most common throughout the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, due to the influence of Scots in both nations. It is a derivative of the Pictish name, Uuen (or 'Wen'), which is the Pictish British cognate of ...
(born 1984), Nicholas (born 1985), Kathryn (born 1988), and Leo (born 2000).
Leo was the first child born to the wife of a serving British prime minister in over 150 years, since
Rollo Russell was born to Lady Frances Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound and
Lord John Russell
John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, (18 August 1792 – 28 May 1878), known by his courtesy title Lord John Russell before 1861, was a British Whig and Liberal statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1852 and a ...
on 11 July 1849. Another pregnancy at the age of 47 ended in miscarriage in early August 2002. The Blair children attended Catholic secondary schools, including The
London Oratory School
The London Oratory School, also known as "The Oratory" or "The London Oratory" to distinguish it from other schools, is a Catholic Church, Catholic Secondary school#United Kingdom, secondary school for boys aged 7–18 and girls aged 16–18 in W ...
. All four children have Irish passports, by virtue of Tony Blair's mother, Hazel Elizabeth Corscadden, a Protestant, the daughter of George Corscadden, a butcher and
Orangeman who moved to
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
in 1916 but returned to
Ballyshannon
Ballyshannon () is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. It is located at the southern end of the county where the N3 from Dublin ends and the N15 crosses the River Erne. Incorporated in 1613, it is one of the oldest towns in Ireland.
Location
B ...
in 1923, where Hazel was born to George and Sarah Margaret (née Lipsett), above her family's grocery shop.
Via her father, Blair and her younger sister Lyndsey have six half-sisters, including British journalist
Lauren Booth
Lauren Booth (born Sarah Jane Booth; 22 July 1967) is an English broadcaster, journalist and activist holding a VIP Palestinian Authority passport as well as a British passport.
Early life
Sarah Jane Booth was born and grew up in North London ...
.
Her first grandchild (a girl) was born in October 2016.
Political and religious views
Blair has described herself as a socialist and, at times, has appeared to have views further to the
left
Left may refer to:
Music
* ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006
* ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016
* "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996
Direction
* Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right
* L ...
than those of her husband. In March 2008, she chaired the Street Weapons Commission on behalf of the broadcaster
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
. She toured the UK and took evidence from people affected by street crime and published a report and practical advice in June 2008.
She is a practising Roman Catholic. In 2009, Blair urged the Catholic Church to reconsider its opposition to
contraception
Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...
, suggesting it could be holding some women back from pursuing a career.
In
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
's 2010 autobiography ''
Decision Points
''Decision Points'' is a memoir by former U.S. President George W. Bush. It was released on November 9, 2010, and the release was accompanied by national television appearances and a national tour. The book surpassed sales of two million copies ...
'', Blair is briefly described as a fierce opponent of the
death penalty
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
.
Writings, portrayals, and coverage in books, film and theatre
Blair co-authored, with
Cate Haste, the 2004 book ''The Goldfish Bowl: Married to the Prime Minister''. The book is a compilation history of the lives of spouses of British prime ministers for most of the second half of the 20th century. It covers the spouses of former prime ministers
Anthony Eden
Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British Conservative Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1955 until his resignation in 1957.
Achieving rapid promo ...
,
Harold Macmillan
Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986) was a British Conservative statesman and politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Caricatured as "Supermac", he ...
,
Alec Douglas-Home
Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel (; 2 July 1903 – 9 October 1995), styled as Lord Dunglass between 1918 and 1951 and being The 14th Earl of Home from 1951 till 1963, was a British Conservative politician who se ...
,
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...
,
James Callaghan
Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, ( ; 27 March 191226 March 2005), commonly known as Jim Callaghan, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980. Callaghan is ...
,
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...
, and
John Major
Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament ...
.
Blair wrote a book of her memoirs, published in late May 2008, entitled ''Speaking for Myself: The Autobiography'',
[Blair, Cherie (2008). Book cover.] and the book was listed as a ''
Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...
'' best-seller. Interviewed about the book by
Carole MacNeil
Carole MacNeil is a Canadian television journalist, known for her work with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation which spanned over thirty years.
MacNeil began her career anchoring local news programs in New Brunswick and Ontario in the early ...
on the Canadian network
CBC Television
CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...
on 1 June 2008, Blair stated that she felt most of the controversy about her in the British media was due to her pioneering role as the first wife of a British prime minister who had her own career, with the media simply not knowing how to treat her fairly and objectively.
Played by
Helen McCrory
Helen Elizabeth McCrory (17 August 1968 – 16 April 2021) was an English actress. After studying at the Drama Centre London, she made her stage debut in ''The Importance of Being Earnest'' in 1990. Other stage roles include playing Lady Macbe ...
, Blair features as a character in ''
The Queen
In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to:
* Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death
The Queen may also refer to:
* Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...
'' (2006), starring
Helen Mirren
Dame Helen Mirren (born Helen Lydia Mironoff; born 26 July 1945) is an English actor. The recipient of numerous accolades, she is the only performer to have achieved the Triple Crown of Acting in both the United States and the United Kingdom. ...
, about the aftermath of the
death of Diana, Princess of Wales
In the early hours of 31 August 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales died from injuries sustained earlier that day in a car crash in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in Paris, France. Dodi Fayed, Diana's partner, and Henri Paul, their chauffeur, were found d ...
in 1997, and is portrayed as a fierce anti-monarchist. McCrory played her again in the 2010
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
film ''
The Special Relationship''. Blair also features as a character in
Chris Bush and Ian McCluskey's production ''
TONY! The Blair Musical
''TONY! The Blair Musical'' is a satirical comedy musical written in 2007 by Chris Bush, director of the White Rose Theatre, with music composed by Ian McCluskey. TONY! follows the premiership of former British prime minister Tony Blair from ...
''.
Phoebe Nicholls
Phoebe Sarah Nicholls (born 1957) is an English film, television, and stage actress. She is known for her roles as Cordelia Flyte in ''Brideshead Revisited'' and as the mother of John Merrick in ''The Elephant Man''.
Personal life
Nicholls i ...
played her in ''
The Trial of Tony Blair
''The Trial of Tony Blair'' is a satirical drama recounting war crimes proceedings brought against former British Prime Minister Tony Blair by an international tribunal, following his departure from 10 Downing Street. Directed by Simon Cell ...
'' (2007). She was also a subject in "
Shoot the Dog", a song by
George Michael
George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the most significant cultural icons of the MTV generation and is one of the best-selling musici ...
that was critical of the
Iraq War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
.
In June 2019, Blair signed on as an executive producer for Jerusalem-set drama feature film ''The Rock Pile'', a first try into film production for her.
Recognition
She was recognized as one of the BBC's 100 women of 2013.
References
Cited texts
*
External links
*
Cherie Blair – Omnia Strategy LLP*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blair, Cherie
1954 births
Living people
Cherie Cherie is an English female given name. It comes from the French ''chérie'', meaning ''darling'' (from the past participle of the verb ''chérir'', ''to cherish'').
Notable people with the name or stage name include:
* Cherie, one of the stage ...
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