Peace envoy role for Blair

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair is to represent the Middle East negotiating Quartet as its envoy, the United Nations has announced.

Mr Blair, who has now resigned as MP for Sedgefield, is now thought to be in his Co Durham constituency where he will address Trimdon Labour Club.

The new Middle East post has received the backing of the the Quartet - the US, the EU, the UN and Russia - as violence continues to rage in the region with at least 12 Palestinians killed in a deadly Gaza Strip raid.

Mr Blair said earlier: "The absolute priority is to try to give effect to what is now the consensus across the international community - that the only way of bringing stability and peace to the Middle East is a two-state solution."

His new role is a marked change from his ten years in the driving seat of British politics.

Earlier, the Iron Lady's daughter, Carol Thatcher, and Baroness Jay, James Callaghan's daughter, gave their thoughts on what life can be like after Downing Street from their unique experiences.

Unlike Mrs Thatcher there were no tears from Mr Blair, but despite his apparent phlegmatic reaction to leaving Downing Street, Baroness Jay thinks it will undoubtedly be a momentous occasion for Mr Blair.

"I think it will be quite a moment of truth. My father at the end of his time of being Prime Minister was genuinely quite tired. He was genuinely quite pleased to have a lot more relaxation time and so on. I don't think Tony will want very much of that. I suspect that he will move on very rapidly," she said.

Indeed for Mr Blair, who is only 54, it seems there will be no period of rest and recuperation. Instead it is expected he will dive head first into the intricacies of Middle East politics by becoming an envoy to the region.

When asked what his priority would be if he took on the role, Blair told parliament: "The absolute priority is to try to give effect to what is now the consensus across the international community - that the only way of bringing stability and peace to the Middle East is a two-state solution."

But, even if he accepts such a difficult role there must surely be moments when Mr Blair misses being Prime Minister.

Bernard Ingham, who was Margaret Thatcher's Press Secretary, certainly thinks he will miss the perks that come with the job: "He will have to summon up his car rather than having somebody do it for him and this will be the big emptiness - that there isn't the same infallible machine that there was to look after you."

Baroness Jay believes Mr Blair will miss the access the position of Prime Minister gives you, saying "Of course the telephones being taken out, that's pretty devastating. You suddenly realise the hotline to all over the world is no longer there anymore. The famous Number Ten switchboard with its amazing service of being able to find anyone anywhere is not yours to play with."

For Mrs Thatcher there was undoubtedly a huge sense of loss: "My mother's official car when she was no longer Prime Minister used to avoid Whitehall as she'd look up and wonder why it hadn't turned in [to Downing Street]," recalls her daughter.

So Mr Blair will no longer have audiences with the Queen, no longer be the most important person in British politics, and no longer demand the perks that come with such a position.

Instead of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, Mr Blair will seemingly have the Israelis and Palestinians to contend with - a job that appears almost as challenging being Prime Minister.

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