Tony Blair Leaves the Anglican Church

Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, has converted to Roman Catholicism, leaving the Church of England.

Last night, according to CBS news, the former Prime Minister was received into the Catholic Church by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Conner, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in the UK.

There had been rumor that Blair, 54, the longest serving Labour Party Prime Minister, was planning a conversion. Recently he has been attending Mass and has taken courses to lead to inclusion in the Catholic Church. Blair earlier this year had a private audience with Pope Benedict XVI.

Blair, who relinquished his office as Prime Minister in 2007, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He attended Durham's Chorister School as youth, then an English boarding school, Fettes College. Not an outstanding student, Blair was arrested at Fettes after being mistaken for a burglar. He was climbing a ladder to get back into his dorm after hours.

Taking a break from schooling, Blair worked as a rock and roll music promoter. He then attended Oxford and St. John's College. All the while his interest in music remained, as he played guitar and was a singer in a rock band, "Ugly Rumors".

His mother died of cancer during his Oxford years; it was a major blow to the future politician.

His influence for converting mostly likely was spurred by his wife, Cherie Booth, whom he met after graduation.

Together the Blair's have four children.

Shortly after Blair's graduation from Oxford he joined the Labour Party, where his views were generally left-wing and socialist. In fact, Blair considered himself a socialist and stated so.

He stood for Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on May 02, 1997. Here he continued to favor liberal ideas and increased spending on health and education. He also introduced a national minimum wage.