Tony Blair general election defeats) the Labour Party had to demonstrate that it had made a decisive break from its left-wing past, in order to win an election again. In May 1997, the Labour Party won a landslide general election victory, the largest in its history. Blair, at 43 years of age, became the youngest Prime Minister since 1812. In September 1997, Blair attained early personal popularity, receiving a 93% public approval rating, after his public response to the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. The Labour Party went on to win two more general elections under his leadership: in 2001, in
Mike Hall (British politician) a safe 13,448 majority, and continued to hold the seat comfortably, albeit with reduced majorities at each subsequent election. In Parliament he served as a member of the Public Accounts Committee (1992–1997), and became the Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Leader of the House of Commons Ann Taylor following the 1997 General Election. He became a member of the Labour government, under Prime Minister Tony Blair, in 1998, when he was appointed as an Assistant Government Whip. He was sacked following the 2001 General Election. From 2001 to 2005 he served as PPS to the Secretary of State for