John Burton (political agent) John Burton (political agent) John Burton was a Labour Party councillor in County Durham, England. He was a member of Sedgefield Borough Council, representing the ward of Fishburn and Old Trimdon. However, he is most notable for being the constituency agent of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who represented the Sedgefield constituency from 1983 until standing down as Prime Minister in 2007. Burton was one of the first to spot the potential of the young Tony Blair. When the new Sedgefield constituency was created for the 1983 general election, which included Burton's home of Trimdon, the local Labour Party
Tony Blair publicly endorsed Gordon Brown's leadership, praising the way he had handled the financial crisis. On 27 June 2007, Blair officially resigned as Prime Minister after ten years in office, and he was officially confirmed as Middle East envoy for the United Nations, European Union, United States, and Russia. Blair originally indicated that he would retain his parliamentary seat after his resignation as Prime Minister came into effect; however, on being confirmed for the Middle East role he resigned from the Commons by taking up an office of profit. President George W. Bush had preliminary talks with Blair to ask him