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| Sunday, 19 June 2005 |
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Junior Observer |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Tony Blair : British Premier for the third time
The son of a barrister and a lecturer, Blair was born in Edinburgh, but spent most of his childhood in Durham. At the age of 14, he returned to Edinburgh to finish his education at Fettes College. He studied law at Oxford, and went on to become a barrister himself. After unsuccessfully contesting a by-election for the Labour Party, Blair,aged 30, went on to win the seat of Sedgefield in the 1983 General Election. He made a speedy rise through the ranks, being promoted first to the Shadow Treasury front bench in 1984. He then served as a trade and industry spokesman, before being elected to the Shadow Cabinet (the representatives from the Opposition who are also assigned for various subjects) in 1988 in which he was Shadow Secretary of State for Energy. In 1989 he moved to the Employment brief. After the 1992 election, Labour's new leader, John Smith, promoted Blair as Shadow Home Secretary. It was in this post that Blair made famous his pledge that Labour would be tough on crime, and on the causes of crime. Smith died suddenly and unexpectedly in 1994, and in the subsequent leadership contest, Blair won a large majority of his party's support. He immediately launched his campaign for the modernisation of the Labour Party, determined to complete the shift further towards the political centre, which he saw as essential for victory. The debate over Clause 4 of the party's constitution was considered the crucial test to determine whether its members would commit to Blair's project. It was around this time that the term New Labour was coined. The Labour Party won the 1997 General Election after 18 years in the Opposition. At the age of 43, Blair became the youngest Prime Minister since Lord Liverpool in 1812. After taking office, Blair vowed to honour his campaign pledge to abide by national spending limits and programmes established by the preceding Conservative administration. The government began to implement a far-reaching programme of constitutional change, putting the question of devolution to referendums in Scotland and Wales. Blair was re-elected with another landslide majority at the 2001 General Election. He made history when he became the British Premier for the third consecutive time during the elections held last month. Blair is married to Cherie Booth, a barrister, and they have four children. Their youngest, Leo, was the first child born to a serving Prime Minister in over 150 years. Charlotte Bronte : Author of well-loved classics
Born in 1816, Charlotte Bronte was the third daughter of the Rev. Patrick Bronte and his wife Maria. Her brother Patrick Branwell was born in 1817, and her famous author sisters Emily and Ann in 1818 and 1820 respectively. In 1820, the Bronte family moved to Haworth. In 1824, the four eldest Bronte daughters were enrolled as pupils at the Clergy Daughters' School at Cowan Bridge. The following year, Maria and Elizabeth, the two eldest daughters, fell ill and died. Charlotte and Emily were later brought home. In 1826, Charlotte's father brought home a box of wooden soldiers for Branwell to play with. Charlotte, Emily, Branwell and Ann, playing with the soldiers, conceived of and began to write in great detail about an imaginary world which they called Angria. In 1831, Charlotte became a pupil at the school at Roe Head, but she left school the following year to teach her sisters at home. She returned to Roe Head School in 1835 as a governess. Three years later, in 1838, Charlotte left Roe Head School. In 1839 she accepted a position as governess in the Sidgewick family, but left after three months and returned to Haworth. In 1841 she became governess in the White family, but left, once again, after nine months. After returning to Haworth, the three sisters, led by Charlotte, decided to open their own school after the necessary preparations had been completed. In 1842 Charlotte and Emily went to Brussels to complete their studies. After a trip home to Haworth, Charlotte returned alone to Brussels, where she remained until 1844. In 1845 Charlotte discovered Emily's poems, and decided to publish a selection of the poems of all three sisters. Their poems were published the following year, written under the pen names of Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell. Charlotte also completed The Professor, which was rejected for publication. The following year, however, Charlotte's Jane Eyre, Emily's Wuthering Heights, and Ann's Agnes Grey were all published, still under the Bell pseudonyms. In 1848 Charlotte and Ann visited their publishers in London, and revealed the true identities of the "Bells". In the same year, Branwell Bronte, by now an alcoholic and a drug addict, died, and Emily died shortly thereafter. Ann died the following year. In 1849 Charlotte, visiting London, began to move in literary circles, making the acquaintance, for example, of Thackeray. In 1850 Charlotte edited her sister's various works. In 1851 she visited the Great Exhibition in London, and attended a series of lectures given by Thackeray. The Rev. A. B. Nicholls, curator of Haworth since 1845, proposed marriage to Charlotte in 1852. By 1854 they were married. In 1854 Charlotte, expecting a child, caught pneumonia. It was an illness which could have been cured, but she seems to have seized upon it as an opportunity for ending her life. Charlotte Bronte died after a lengthy and painful illness. |
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| Politics | Produced by Lake House |
Tony Blair is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Blair,
who began his political career in 1983, was re-elected as the British
Premier for the third time in May 2005, making it a historical occasion in
the country. 
Have you read the famous novel Jane Eyre? The book was written by
Charlotte Bronte and many believe that it reflects her own life story. It
is believed that the famous author was speaking on behalf of oppressed
women of every age. 
