Exit Blair

PM takes final questions; queen asks Brown to form government
By Greg Atwan,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 27, 2007 8:30 AM CDT
Exit Blair
British Prime Minister Tony Blair, 2nd left, smiles with his family, Euan, left, Kathryn, 3rd left, wife Cherie, 2nd right, Nicky, right and Leo, front, before leaving 10 Downing Street, London, for the last time Wednesday June 27, 2007. British Prime Minister Tony Blair will officially stand down...   (Associated Press)

Tony Blair handed his resignation to the queen at 1:15 this afternoon, ending a decade as prime minister of the United Kingdom marked by unprecedented prosperity but marred by a deeply unpopular war in Iraq. In a choreographed ritual, Elizabeth II asked Chancellor Gordon Brown, who has been waiting patiently for the question for 13 years, to form a government.

Blair left 10 Downing St. immediately after the meeting to return to his constituency, where he is expected to announce that he will step down as a member of parliament and accept a job as envoy to the Mideast. The PM answered his final round of questions from Parliament close to tears this morning, opening with a declaration that he was “truly sorry” for the dangers troops face in Iraq. (More Tony Blair stories.)

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