Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 1953) is a British politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and the Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007.  From 1983 to 2007, Blair was the MP for Sedgefield. He was elected Labour Party leader in July 1994. Under Blair's leadership, the party used the phrase "New Labour", to distance it from previous Labour policies and the traditional conception of socialism