Priti 4 Witham

So we, the British people, will not look back on Tony Blair and love him: he has been in power too long for that. We, even his opponents, will not hate him: his attributes have always repelled that. But we will, on all sides, look back and ask “What did he really believe in doing? And when was he going to get round to it? – Rt Hon William Hague

The great Blair political conjuring trick is over. The man who swore that he could pump money into Britain’s public services without raising taxes, create opportunity for all, be ‘purer than purer’, revolutionise the NHS and be ‘tough on crime and the causes crime’, has finally left office. After all the money, false promises and now disillusionment the gap between Blair’s rhetoric and delivery was far too great.  And yet according to a poll in tomorrow’s Sunday Times 49% of the public think that Mr Blair had been a good Prime Minister. Judging by the poll, Gordon Brown has his work cut out!