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
Socialist Labour Party (UK) Minister Margaret Thatcher during the 1980s, with the policy being maintained by her successor John Major and then advocated by Labour Party leader Tony Blair in his re-write of Clause IV. In 2004, a purge of Marxist-Leninists from the SLP, over the issue of relations with North Korea, led to the formation of the Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist–Leninist). The party attracted trade union figures such as Mick Rix and Bob Crow. In early 2014, the SLP gained three Labour councillors in Barking and Dagenham through defection. However, these members lost their seats in the 2014 UK local elections