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Friday marked the seventh anniversary of Tony Blair’s resignation as British prime minister after achieving unprecedented electoral success for his Labour Party, but those seven years have not been kind to his image.

As the country’s youngest prime minister in nearly two centuries, Mr. Blair’s political life was energized by the vigour of youth but, inevitably, it also assured him a long post-political career.

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And it is here his reputation has imploded.

He went right to the top and has now fallen to the very bottom. It makes for a very tragic story

“Tony Blair had been as popular a prime minister as there has been. And now, he’s the most unpopular ex-prime minister ever,” said George Jones, emeritus professor of governance at the London School of Economics & Political Science.

“He went right to the top and has now fallen to the very bottom. It makes for a very tragic story.”

Criticism of Mr. Blair, increasingly vociferous and harsh, quickly went from a series of recurrent fender-benders to a full-on highway pile-up.