British lawyer and wife of former Prime Minister Tony Blair; an employment law specialist, a part-time judge and mother of four children.
Raised in a working class Roman Catholic family, Cherie’s father, actor Tony Booth, abandoned the family when she was two, June 1956. She subsequently grew up with a mother who always worked as the family¹s main provider. Attending law school, Cherie scored at the top of her class and the top of her year in the bar exam. She met fellow law student Tony Blair in May 1976, both competing for the post of intern at a barrister’s chamber. Initially dismissing him as a lightweight ex-public schoolboy, her romantic interest was awakened at the chambers’ Christmas party that year. They married in March 1980.
In 1983 Cherie lost her fight in the General Election for a seat in Thanet North in Kent, while Tony won his seat in Sedgefield, County Durham and began his political rise to Downing Street. He became Prime Minister in 1997 while she established herself as a first-rate, high profile judge and barrister. She and Tony have often been compared to Hillary and Bill Clinton as a handsome, high-profile political couple.
Cherie earns approximately $400,000 per year. There has been some publicity that she complained about having to spend so much of her own money on designer clothing and top-notch entertaining as wife of the Prime Minister – only official state functions are paid for by taxpayers. She created a political stir when she published an article defending the government’s policy on human rights inasmuch as in her position of the Prime Minister’s wife she is expected to keep her political views private. She claimed she wrote the article in her capacity as judge, and actually, keeps a low-profile most of the time.
The Blair’s have four children. Their son Euan was born on 19 January 1984, son Nicky on 6 December 1985, daughter Kathryn on 2 March 1988 and son Leo on 20 May 2000. Leo was the first new baby born to the sitting Prime Minister in 150 years. Stringently guarding her family’s privacy, Cherie filed an injunction against a former nanny on 5 March 2000 to prevent her from publishing her memoirs. The case was settled out of court.
In spite of her formidable list of accomplishments, she nevertheless gives the impression of great fragility and a critic remarked, “There is still something slightly skittish about her; the fawn-like eyes can look startled, the body language gauche and awkward.” After critical appraisals of her clothes and style, she allowed herself to be groomed by PR specialists. Basically uncertain of herself, she is often seen as being cold, reserved or unapproachable.
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