Blair ministry the May 1997 election with a 179-seat majority. The Prime Minister Tony Blair, who turned 44 years old days after leading Labour to victory, was the youngest Prime Minister of the twentieth century. Blair quickly wiped away memories of the troubled Labour governments led by Harold Wilson and James Callaghan in the 1960s and 70's as the economic recovery continued and unemployment continued to fall. While other developed countries, notably Japan, were hit by a financial crisis during Blair's first term in office, the British economy remained strong. In September 2000, however, protests against fuel prices intensified across the country
Premiership of Tony Blair Blair’s premiership has been termed as ‘presidential’ by various political commentators and authors. In 1997, Dan Balz of "Washington Post" narrated his take on Blair’s leadership: "Tony Blair has adopted many persons as Britain’s leader: political reformer, griever in chief, general host of Friday night town meetings, relentless enforcer of a disciplined message. Both as a candidate and as Prime Minister, Blair has embraced a presidential style of leadership geared for the age of television and the era of declining faith of political parties". Tony Blair’s presidential style of leadership was also the subject of study of Michael Foley’s book