1997: Tony Blair and his ‘forgotten people’ at the Aylesbury Estate

On July 21, 1994, the MP for Sedgefield, Tony Blair, was confirmed as the new leader of the Labour Party.

The results of the Labour Party ballot showed Mr Blair had gained 57 per cent of the vote in an election which followed the unexpected death of former Labour leader John Smith.

Mr Blair made clear his intentions in his first speech as leader. He said: “I shall not rest until, once again, the destinies of our people and our party are joined together again in victory at the next general election – Labour in its rightful place in government again.”

Within three years he lead the Labour Party to its biggest ever general election victory in May 1997, with a majority of 179. This has now been surpassed by Kier Starmer.

Mr Blair’s first speech as prime minister on June 2, 1997, was not made to a gathering of Labour activists, or opinion formers, but to the tenants of South London’s very own Aylesbury Estate.

“For the past 18 years, often the poorest people in our country have been forgotten by government,” Mr Blair said that day. “And I want that to change.”

The Aylesbury Estate, situated just south of Elephant and Castle in Southwark, was home to 7,500 people and had dozens of concrete towers, all interlinked by walkways.

At the time, 17 per cent of households were registered unemployed, 59 per cent were on housing benefit and 78 per cent of 17-year-olds were not in full-time education. There were more lone parents on the estate than anywhere else in Southwark.

In 1998  the neighbourhood was promised £56.2million in the first raft of the New Deal for Communities (NDC) programme. 

The grant was the first element of a £234million regeneration scheme, which could eventually see the 2,700 homes on the estate demolished and rebuilt, along with improvements in the local health and education facilities. Under the plans, an extra 1,000 homes would be built to sell off to the private sector to help finance the project.

In 2001 the estate’s tenants were given a vote on the proposal. Seventy-six per cent of the Aylesbury’s residents voted in the ballot. Seventy-three per cent voted against the regeneration. 

Since 2012, small portions of the Aylesbury have been replaced by homes for sale or rent. 

The disputed regeneration has seen social homes demolished and replaced with private or affordable rent units, displacing hundreds of tenants to other parts of the country.

If nothing else for the residents of Aylsebury, crime was reduced on the estate under Blair. 

But, this feat may have had more to do with the estate’s local policeman, Kevin Holland.

Writing about his experience in the Guardian in 2017, Mr Holland recalled the day when the new Prime Minister came to the Ayelsebury estate.

He said: “Blair’s team had told me there might be “a few photographers”, but there were about 300. His speech was headline news on TV that lunchtime and evening. The following morning, this picture was in all the papers.”

Mr Holland had begun his career as a home beat officer on the estate in 1994. 

He said: “The first thing I did each morning was look at the crimes from the past 24 hours: robberies, burglaries, damage to cars. There were 10-15 crimes a day.”

At first, Mr Holland said he spent  “a lot of time nicking people”. But, gradually he came to understand his true role as a “conduit and peacemaker”.

The Aylesbury was often called one of the most notorious estates in Britain; some papers labelled it “hell”, which Mr Holland said “still makes me angry”. 

Looking back, he said: “In winter, it was quite depressing; but on a warm summer evening, listening to 40 different languages being spoken, music blaring, and people drinking wine and Jamaican beer, there was a great vibe.”

Opening up communication between the police, security guards and the tenants he began to finally get on top of his main priority – the gangs.

He said: “I thought, I can either keep nicking these buggers or I can drag them to the boxing gym and say: ‘Put some gloves on and you’re not coming out till you’ve done 10 rounds.’

“I wanted them to channel their anger, boredom and frustration. It made a huge difference.”

By 1999, Mr Holland achieved his goal: to have a crime-free week. 

Where Mr Blair broke his first promise to the residents of Aylesbury, it was those who worked within the community who managed to succeed in their goals.

Mr Holland said: “I’m so proud of what I achieved at Aylesbury – it shows what you can do when you work together.”

Pictured top: Tony Blair, accompanied by PC Kevin Holland, waves as he leaves Aylesbury Estate where he made the pledge that there would be no “forgotten people” (Picture: Stefan Rousseau/PA)