Queen Elizabeth II accepted the resignation of British Prime Minister Tony Blair today and installed Labor Party leader Gordon Brown as the new Prime Minister.
It should be interesting to watch as this new British government forms. How different will this government be with regards to relations with Washington and the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as compared to the Blair government?
On Tony Blair, I think critics were too harsh when they called him George Bush's poodle. His contributions to peace in Northern Ireland and in the developing world exceed President Bush's efforts, period. Don't look for the Quartet on the Middle East to ask President Bush to do anything for them when he leaves office. They may well throw a party after Bush goes back to Texas.
Blair did a much better job of explaining his reasons for supporting the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, and was eloquent in defending his reasoning. A lot of that has to do with the fact that every Wednesday, he'd go to Parliament and duke it out with his opponents during Prime Minister's Questions, where he'd answer questions posed to him by the opposition and from his own party.
I think Prime Minister Brown will not have much of a grace period; his first Prime Minister's Questions next Wednesday will tell the tale.
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