Prime Minister of the United Kingdom seats than the opposition in a general election. Since 1722, most Prime Ministers have been members of the Commons; since 1902, all have had a seat there. Like other members, they are elected initially to represent only a constituency. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair, for example, represented Sedgefield in County Durham from 1983 to 2007. He became Prime Minister because in 1994 he was elected Labour Party leader and then led the party to victory in the 1997 general election, winning 418 seats compared to 165 for the Conservatives and gaining a majority in the House of Commons. Neither the
Premiership of Tony Blair Prime Minister for the last time. His successor was widely expected to be Gordon Brown, the-then Chancellor of the Exchequer, who launched his leadership bid on 11 May 2007. The only other politician to formally declare himself a contender for the Labour leadership following Blair's departure was the left-wing Labour MP John McDonnell, who launched his campaign on 14 July 2006. To stand in the leadership contest, candidates required the nominations of 12.5% of sitting Labour MPs—then 44 MPs. On 2 May 2007, on the tenth anniversary of the 1997 general election, Tony Blair announced that he would be stepping