Tony Blair confession: How ex-PM sparked backlash with bizarre personal finance claim

Since he retired as Prime Minister in 2007, Tony Blair has led a relatively quiet life for a former frontline politician. Because of the inquiry over the Iraq War, security worries prevented him from attending the launch of his own memoirs. He also appears to have lost every battle he cared about or was involved in – from Jeremy Corbyn becoming Labour leader to Britain leaving the EU.

However, as many wonder what his next steps might be, unearthed reports reveal how the former Prime Minister was branded “out of touch” in 2015.

The backlash came as he claimed he was “absolutely not” in the league of the super-rich, despite earning millions of pounds a years from consultancy and public speaking.

As part of a strategy to rehabilitate himself in Britain, Mr Blair spoke about his multi-million pound earnings in an interview with Newsweek magazine five years ago.

He said: “Am I better off than most people?

“Yeah, I’m very lucky.

“Am I in the league of the super-rich?

“Absolutely not, though you will have to make up your own mind about that.”

Claiming the money he generates pays for the ‘infrastructure’ around him, Mr Blair added: “I could not do what I do unless I was also able to generate income.”

At the time, former Conservative MP Charlie Elphicke responded to his interview, saying: “First we had ‘Two Kitchens Miliband’ lecturing people from his £2million mansion and now multi-millionaire Tony Blair declaring he doesn’t think he is super-rich.

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Since leaving Downing Street in 2007, Mr Blair has established a complex network of companies, which make it impossible to calculate his exact earnings.

However, he has reportedly earned millions every year from consultancy roles as well as charging upwards of £250,000 to speak at events.

He claimed to have donated large chunks of his income to charity and said the majority of his earnings go to propping up the vast infrastructure of offices organising his affairs.