Discours de Tony Blair 30/09/1997 (document en anglais)

« A beacon to the world » : Extract from Tony Blair’s speech to the Labour Party conference, Brighton, 30 September 1997

On 1 May 1997, the Labour Party had an overwhelming victory over the conservatives for the general elections and formed a government for the first time in 18 years. The text that we are going to study is an extract from Tony Blair’s first conference speech since becoming Prime Minister and he defined some of the elections promises Labour Party had already fulfilled. We can ask ourselves to what extent this speech is a prediction to the Blair’s years as PM? In a first part we will see what means the Labour’s victory and in a second part we will see how Tony Blair’s pledges can be seen as ambiguous.

I An overwhelming victory (hope vs hard work)

To begin with, we will see how the Labour’s victory is seen as hope. In fact, Tony Blair uses “believe” several times in front of “Britain” or “the British people”. We could see that as a wish to put Britain on a pedestal. He talks about Britain’s history: the great inventions.. He wants to give people hope after the 18 years of conservatism which we know were tough on the working-class.

He is talking about Britain’s potential and shows his ambitions towards his country “today I want to set an ambitious course for this country”

He wants Britain to be the best place to live in. He wants Britain to be an example, a guide, “a beacon to the world”. This impression is amplified by an accumulation of positive adjectives: “Creative. Compassionate. Outward-looking” that show that he is confident about Britain’s future. He wants people to be behind him and he needs to convince them that there is hope.

He’s describing what he wants for Britain “I want” in opposition to “ I don’t want “, listing precisely where he is going. Then again it is a proof of confidence. He shows that he knows what to do. Things are in good hands

However, as we are reading the text this accumulation of positivity seems to hide a very uncertain future. In fact, Tony Blair actually knows that everything has to be done for Britain and that it is going to be hard work.

In the first sentence, “18 years of frustration and despair”, we understand how hard the task will be because so many people are counting on the new government to make things change. Now is the time to act and it is not going to be easy.

Tony Blair does not hide this reality to the audience: “the size of our victory imposes a very special responsibility on us”. He knows that it is going to be tough but he

So even though this is an overwhelming victory for the Labour Party that gives hope to many people this is also a very hard responsibility to take notably because of the people’s expectations . Tony Blair in his speech plays with this ambiguity : he knows that people are expecting much that is why there is all this part about positive thing. He says to people what they want to hear because he needs their support he doesn’t want to scare them right away..

II An ambiguous change (change after the tories’ years or in the Labour party itself?)

All along Tony Blair’s speech we can notice that it deals with change. In fact he uses several times the

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