The enigma of Tony Blair

摘要

So tony blair already thinks he knows why New Labour did so badly in the local elections on May 4th. All his adult life, the prime minister asserted in an unrepentant speech five days later, he has been struggling to represent "a politics that does not fit neatly into traditional categories of left and right". This new approach, he says, confuses traditional voters, who make the mistake of thinking: "Yes, you may be competent but you believe in nothing." Mr Blair's counter is that he does believe—with a passion—in his new sort of politics. Neither new right nor old left, he denies that there is a need to choose either failed religion, and promises to continue his mission of "modernising" Britain no matter how much his own party may clamour to return to the true old faith.