Cherie Blair

Cherie Blair, CBE also actively promotes work-life balance policies, having herself experienced the pressures of combining a demanding career with being the wife of Tony Blair and a mother of four.

Tony Blair said his wife was "…an enormous source of strength and an extraordinary person in her own right. I never know how she manages with all the different things she does - the work, the family.” The New York Times wrote: “Cherie Blair is viewed as something of a wonder woman for her ability to balance her high-powered professional life, high-visibility public life and intensely consuming private life." But Cherie has shrugged off the wonder-woman tag, noting wryly that her life is as chaotic as most working mothers.

There was nothing in Cherie Blair’s background to suggest such a distinguished career. Having been brought up by a single mother in a modest home in Liverpool, she was the first member of her family to attend university. But having won a place at the London School of Economics, she graduated with first class honors in law and went on to top her year in her Bar examinations.

She met and married Tony Blair in 1980 when they were both lawyers. They have four children, the youngest, Leo, being the first born to a serving Prime Minister for over a century.

Cherie Blair combined her legal career with bringing up the family and, in 1995, was appointed Queen’s Counsel as the most senior lawyers in England are known. She specializes in employment and human rights law and is regularly asked to appear in courts abroad. She also serves as a part-time judge.

During Tony Blair’s decade as Prime Minister, she was often at his side at international summits, on international trips and during election campaigning. But she also made many independent visits, often linked to the many charities with which she is associated. They include the children’s charity Barnardo’s, the disability charity SCOPE, Breast Cancer Care and the Loomba Trust which helps widows and their children across the world. She takes a very active role in their work, visiting projects at home and abroad. Cherie Blair is an ambassador for London 2012 and a member of UNICEF’s Global Task Force on Water.

Cherie Blair's much-anticipated autobiography, Speaking for Myself, was published in the UK in the Spring of 2008, with a U.S. release anticipated in the Fall of 2008. It reached #1 on the London Times Bestseller List within three days of sales. As a barrister and a judge, Cherie Blair is used to speaking on behalf of other people. At last she speaks for herself, in this fascinating memoir, offering a warm, intimate and often very funny portrait of a family living in extraordinary circumstances.

Cherie Blair also co-authored The Goldfish Bowl, a fascinating account of the life in Downing Street from the perspectives of the spouses and families of past Prime Ministers.

Mrs. Blair’s speech topics include: Human rights for women and children, balancing family and career, charity, public service and legal issues.

Find out more about how Cherie Blair is inspiring women around the world to work together to improve their lives.