As a member of the opposite party (Conservative), I had campaigned against his policies and his party throughout the past 12 years, but, for now, let me apply the brakes on party politics and give a non-partisan view of Blair's premiership.

When I helped a Conservative MP to retain his seat in the 1997 general election, we both knew that we were facing the greatest defeat in Conservative history. Tony Blair was a shining star of the Labour Party, young, vibrant and dynamic. He was personable, and connected with people.

I met him in 1997 at one of his meetings, where he was delivering a speech on education. I bought one of his books, New Britain -- My Vision of a Young Country, which he kindly signed for me. I particularly liked the chapter, "Why I am a Christian," where he espoused his beliefs in Christianity, where mercy and peace were its central themes and his guiding principles in daily life. In an era of rising secularism and disdain for religion, it was refreshing to hear a powerful leader speak his mind on a taboo subject.

Labour had been in opposition for 18 years, and Blair's charismatic leadership transformed his stagnant party into a sophisticated, slick, election-fighting machine. He managed to do away with some of the old socialist policies, such as re-nationalisation, and encouraged positive engagement with the private sector. This was a major milestone in his leadership, i.e. he could detach his party from a core socialist principle.

Blair's influencing skills had never been a problem, and Labour realised that they needed to change and get back into government, so they gave Tony Blair their full backing. Labour was re-branded to "New Labour," and they were out to hunt us Conservatives in full force.

It was a shock to the system when our party was defeated in 1997, but the British public had had enough, and did not forgive the outgoing Conservative Prime Minister, John Major, for putting the British economy into recession in the early 1990s. However, by 1997, the economy was in good shape, and Labour inherited a golden economic legacy from us, which they could build on.

Some of the good things that Blair had done were to separate the Bank of England from the ministry so that there was no political interference. He also built on John Major's success with Northern Ireland and helped to bring about peace between warring parties. Under his leadership the IRA laid down their weapons once and for all, after they realised that the bullet could not change people's opinions.

Tony Blair was the first British prime minister to win three general elections consecutively, and this is a testament to his amiable personality, and the influence he was able to command within his party and the general public, even though some of his policies were unpopular. Being the longest serving prime minister, he saw through 4 changes in the Conservative leadership, a fact which he kept on reminding the Conservatives during Prime Minister's Question Time.

Britain and the global community will remember Blair for his dynamic leadership, but will also remember him for taking us into war with Iraq despite the controversies surrounding this decision. He was labelled as a poodle of President Bush because his government supported Bush to the hilt in the war against terror.

It is difficult to judge whether the failed Iraq initiative will be his lasting legacy, or will it be the peace he was able to achieve in Northern Ireland. I leave that to future historians to decide.

What is for certain is that Tony Blair has transformed the Labour Party into a credible political party that has won three general elections in a row. This is to his credit, and that should be his legacy. I hope that Tony Blair becomes an envoy to the Middle East, and applies the principles he followed in Northern Ireland, to bring about peace in the Middle East. Only then can he remove the stain of the failed Iraq strategy.

As he steps down, the finance minister, Gordon Brown, will take over the premiership. The question now is whether Brown can live up to the high standards set by his predecessor. Time will tell, but I don't believe that Brown has anywhere near the charisma that Blair had. He faces another challenge, which John Major faced a decade ago.

Brown has to contend with a resurgent Conservative Party under the leadership of David Cameron, who has been described as the "new Tony Blair." Cameron clearly has the charisma, dynamism and ability to connect with people.

After seeing through 4 Conservative leaders over the last 10 years, I am glad that we now have a dynamic and straight-talking leader at par with Tony Blair. We never had problems with policies, we only had one problem, and that was our image. This has now been rectified.

Building on the foundations set by previous Conservative leaders, David Cameron is transforming our party and taking it to new heights. I hope to see him as prime minister very soon. There are rumours that Gordon Brown may call a snap general election next year. If this is true, then bring it on ... we Conservatives are ready.

Hasan Ali Imam is a member of the Conservative Party, UK.