Spokesman Tony Blair to Seek Leadership of British Laborites

Tony Blair, the domestic affairs spokesman for the opposition Labor Party, on Saturday formally entered the race to be the party’s next leader, and possibly Britain’s next prime minister.

Blair, who represents the “modernization wing” of the party, immediately became the odds-on favorite to win the post in a complex party vote next month.

In a speech to his constituents in northern Durham County, Blair pledged to revitalize Britain as a “strong and cohesive society” and as a nation that could take its place as a “force for change and renewal in the wider world.”

“We can say today we stand on the brink of government,” Blair added, praising the work of past Labor Party leaders, including John Smith, who died of a heart attack last month.

Blair, 41, who would be the youngest leader in Labor’s history, is the man the ruling Conservatives fear most in the run-up to the next general election, to be held by 1997.

A lawyer who attended Oxford University, Blair is seen by political observers as the candidate who can best present the modern face of the Labor Party and win votes among Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.

Blair faces three other candidates for the leadership post: John Prescott, 56, the employment spokesman; Margaret Beckett, 51, the party’s deputy leader, and Denzil Davies, 55, who is not a member of the leadership team and is considered a long shot. Prescott and Beckett are also running for the deputy leader post.