So, how was it for you?

More reflections on the Blair years

Stephen Fry

Many people are disappointed. But I’m not as disappointed, because I never expected paradise to be delivered in two or three terms. There’s one word that sits like a bad smell – Iraq. Despite the New Deal and all the other reforms, that smell will continue to hang. As a French statesman once said, “It’s worse than a crime; it’s a blunder.”

Kathy Lette

Whatever we think of Blair’s policies, however much we cringe at his closeness to Bush, you cannot deny that he is a man of passion. After years of cynical Toryism, it was such a relief to discover a politician who cared for more than the size of his election.

Digby Jones

He is seriously impressive in overseas markets and I don’t think the electorate, nor probably the cabinet, understands what a promoter of British business he has been. However, he appears to have a blind spot when it comes to America – from anti-competitive attitudes in the airline industry, through Kyoto, to the disgraceful application of the lopsided extradition treaty.

Tom Hunter, artist

It was one of the happiest days of my life, when Blair got elected after 18 years of the Tories. It’s just very sad, looking back on it now, that the only thing I will remember him for is the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the trouble, deaths and chaos caused in those two countries.

Dylan Jones, editor GQ magazine

Initially I greeted him with euphoria, because the previous administration was morally bankrupt and bereft of ideas. Then came the war – which, like others, I marched against – and the inevitable slide into sleaze. We should adopt the American system, where the president (because that, essentially, is what Blair has been) can serve only two terms.