Cherie Blair
Cherie Lady Blair CBE QC (née Booth, born 23 September 1954), also known as Cherie Booth, is a British lawyer and writer. She is married to Sir Tony Blair, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007. A member of Lincoln's Inn, she became a lawyer in 1976 and a QC in 1995. Until 1988, George Karman was the head of her room. In 1999, she was appointed Registrar (Standing Concurrent Judge) of the District Court and the Criminal Court.
She was one of the founders of Matrix Chambers in London, but she no longer works there. Matrix was founded in 2000 and specializes in human rights law, but its members are active in a variety of fields, including UK public and judicial affairs, the European Union and European Conventions on Human Rights, and public international law. She is the founder and chairman of the law firm Omnia Strategy LLP. She specializes in employment, discrimination and public law and has occasionally represented plaintiffs in lawsuits against the UK government. Blair has appeared in numerous flagship cases. A prime example is the case of Lisa Grant v. South West Trains Ltd of the European Court of Justice on Discrimination on the basis of Sexual Orientation.
In January 2010, while sentenced to assault the accused Shamso Mia, Blair called him a “religious man” and announced that his imprisonment would be suspended. The court heard that Mia was at the temple shortly before breaking the man's jaw after arguing in line at the bank. "You are religious, and you know this is unacceptable," Blair told Mia. This has been interpreted by some observers as being particularly tolerant because of the religious nature of the perpetrators. The Office of Appeals and Appeals issued an initial statement saying it had "received many complaints regarding comments" made by Blair when he sentenced Shamsomia and said it was investigating the matter. On June 10, 2010, the OJC issued a statement stating that "no disciplinary action was required" during the investigation, saying "Registrar Booth's observations were found not to constitute a judicial misconduct". However, a personal letter to the National Secular Society said the OJC took the action in the form of an "informal committee" by a senior judge.
In 2015, Blair defended Rwanda's head of intelligence, Emmanuel Karenzi Karake, on charges of conspiracy to murder three Spanish NGOs and a Canadian priest. Karake probably did this because the workers knew that the Rwanda Patriotic Front had killed Hutu civilians in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Blair founded Mee Healthcare in 2011 with US business partner Gail Lees. In June 2015, he stopped trading and fired all employees without notice. In 2021, Blair served as Ethics Advisor for Israeli security firm NSO Group.
Famous As: Barrister
Birthdate: September 23, 1954
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Bury, England
