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
Tony Blair leader and Prime Minister. At a special party conference in Manchester on 24 June 2007, he formally handed over the leadership of the Labour Party to Gordon Brown, who had been Chancellor of the Exchequer under Blair's three ministries. Blair tendered his resignation on 27 June 2007 and Brown assumed office during the same afternoon. Blair resigned from his Sedgefield seat in the House of Commons in the traditional form of accepting the Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds, to which he was appointed by Gordon Brown in one of the latter's last acts as Chancellor of the Exchequer. The resulting