Cherie Blair reveals she wishes she'd put more effort into appearance

Cherie Blair admits she wishes she’d learned how to do her hair and makeup when she was younger to prepare for the focus on her appearance as the PM’s wife

• Cherie Blair today revealed she wishes she’d put more effort into her appearance
• Wife of former British PM Tony Blair also said success is down to who you know
• She said she was shocked there was such intense focus on how she looked 

Cherie Blair today revealed she wishes she’d put more effort into doing her hair and makeup, as well as admitting that success in life is often down to who you know.

The barrister, who spent ten years in 10 Downing Street while husband Tony Blair was British Prime Minister, confessed that she didn’t anticipate how much her appearance would matter during that time.

Mrs Blair, who is a QC and has a CBE, said she was taken aback when Labour won the 1997 election and there was such intense focus on how she looked.

The mother-of-four, 65, also revealed she was shocked at how much her humble upbringing in a single parent family in Liverpool initially held her back when she went to train as a barrister. 

Cherie Blair (pictured recently) today revealed she wishes she’d put more effort into doing her hair and makeup, as well as admitting that success in life is often down to who you know

Mrs Blair famously opened the door of her Islington home in her nightdress the morning after the Labour election victory in May 1997

Speaking to the Big Issue magazine, she admitted: ‘I hadn’t realised when Tony became prime minister that there would be such interest in me.

‘Of course Tony and I were quite different from our predecessors. I was the first prime minister’s spouse to have gone to university. It just wasn’t the thing for women to do that.

‘We were also different in that we had a young family, our kids went to the local state school. So there was a lot of interest in all of that. I became conscious of what I wore, how I looked.

‘I did quite a lot of high profile cases as a lawyer, but there you were judged by your successes or otherwise in court – with the wig and gown it’s not a beauty contest.

The barrister, who spent ten years in 10 Downing Street while husband Tony Blair (pictured together centre, with the Queen, left, and Prince Philip, right, outside Downing Street in 2002) was British Prime Minister, confessed that she didn’t anticipate how much her appearance would matter during that time

Mrs Blair (pictured with her family in 2001), who is a QC and has a CBE, said she was taken aback when Labour won the 1997 election and there was such intense focus on how she looked

‘So it was a bit different being in the public eye when no one was interested in what you said. In fact you weren’t supposed to say anything. People tend to focus on how you look.

‘So if I could give my younger self advice I’d say learn how to do your hair and makeup.’

Recalling her barrister training after she’d graduated from LSE, Mrs Blair added: ‘If I could go back and give my young self advice it might be to understand, which I didn’t until I went to the bar to do my pupillage, that in this world it’s not just about how much you know, it’s also about who you know.

‘And I didn’t know anyone. I definitely felt the imposter syndrome at times.

‘Just little things like going to eat the dinners at Lincoln’s Inn [the prestigious London-based body of lawyers]… they presented port at the end and I had no idea what it was. I just didn’t know the etiquette of things.

‘I only realise now that a lot of what we were doing in the halls and Lincoln’s Inn was what they did in Oxford colleges and public schools, but they were completely alien environments to me.’

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