Labour Spent $13K on Cherie Blair's Hair

[Seabiscuit]

Labour Spent $13K on Cherie Blair's Hair

By BETH GARDINER, Associated Press Writer Fri Apr 21, 12:25 PM ET

LONDON - Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour Party spent $13,700 on hairstyling bills for his wife, Cherie, during last year's monthlong general election campaign, a newspaper reported Friday.

The party would not comment on the report's accuracy, but suggested there was nothing wrong with such expenditures.

"So what?" a Labour spokeswoman said, speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with party policy. "Mrs. Blair worked fantastically hard during the election. ... She is enormously popular with the party and, don't forget, we won the election."

The Times newspaper said the party had listed the styling bills as an election expense — $490-a-day for a month of campaigning — in its mandatory declaration to the Electoral Commission.

The commission declined to comment.


Cherie Blair, the wife of Britain's prime minister, left, and Russian first lady Lyudmila Putin touring the Great Kremlin Palace in Moscow, in this file photo from Oct. 4, 2003. Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour Party spent 7,700 pounds (US$13,700; 10,800) on hair styling bills for his wife during last year's month long general election campaign, a newspaper reported Thursday. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky,File)


Cherie Blair, who uses the surname Booth in her professional life as a lawyer, has long had her hair done by Andre Suard, a stylist at the upscale Michaeljohn salon.

Tony Blair's official spokesman said the prime minister's wife paid for Suard herself whenever she brought him on official government trips. But he declined to comment on the report, saying party events that occurred during a campaign were a separate matter.

Because Britain does not have an official role equivalent to that of the U.S. first lady, prime ministers' spouses have to shoulder many costs associated with their position in the public eye.

Cherie Blair, whose clothing and appearance are often mocked by the British media, has been criticized in the past for her reliance on a pricey hairstylist.

Christopher Meyer, Britain's former ambassador to Washington, recalled in his recent memoir that the Blairs held up their Concorde's departure from Andrews Air Force base after a visit to Camp David because her hairstylist had been left behind.

"A helicopter brought him posthaste to Andrews as the rest of us kicked our heels," Meyer wrote.

[999]

I would have used my dog clippers & free charge!

[johnnypd]

[hellolazyness]

Cherie Blair is seriously ugly. I mean urg...fugly

[cgrassham]

I know! What a waste of money! And I know it sounds awful and cruel but she is an ugly woman. Looks of course aren't everything (I'm not that shallow) but she is just plain ugly and spending so much on her hair is stupid.

[johnnypd]

the money would've been better invested in the NSH so that cherie could get a face transplant.

[999]

Send her to Bangkok and convert her into Monkey & Jerv dreams for that money!

[Kampflamm]

Originally Posted by johnnypd

the money would've been better invested in the NSH so that cherie could get a face transplant.

A mail-order-bride would have been cheaper and more pleasing to look at as well.

[gothicform]

its because shes worth it!

[potto]

Ah so the media is poking fun at someone trying to fit into the image generated and raised by the media themselves, interesting. So is the Times going to stop its magazine supplement?!

[samsonyuen]

$13k, that's about £7k a year, that's crazy! I should hope Tony Blair's haircuts are considerably cheaper with less on top!

[gothicform]

its more than that though. this money was spent over a short period.

[JackSwan]

i'd recommend simply buying her a paper bag in future, but knowing this lot it would probably be a gucci paper bag. seriously though, not everyone can be blessed with supermodel good looks and we mustn't ridicule cherie too much for that, but frankly anything that helps distract our gaze from her face should be encouraged.

has anyone read the story about manchester united being awarded £30k by the lottery? absolutely a worthwhile cause, but perhaps it might have been better spent elsewhere where money isn't quite so readily available.

[Jonesy55]

As she earns over £500k per year, why doesn't she pay for her own haircuts, tightarse!

[The Hunted]

Originally Posted by Jonesy55

As she earns over £500k per year, why doesn't she pay for her own haircuts, tightarse!

Because she is a freeloader?

[jmancuso]

i wonder how many rubles lyudmila putin's hairdo cost the russian taxpayers.

[Zim Flyer]

I will leave it to Matt from the Telegraph:

[Isaac Newell]

as long as it's not my money I don't care. However some people suggest state funding of parties.

[Jonesy55]

Originally Posted by Isaac Newell

as long as it's not my money I don't care. However some people suggest state funding of parties.

That could be a problem but as long as each party got its budget and that was it, I doubt they would waste money on extravagances like this, they would need all the money for advertising etc or they would lose.

[999]

Originally Posted by Isaac Newell

as long as it's not my money I don't care. However some people suggest state funding of parties.

Labour throw on some wicked parties


Châteauny Blair: Labour's staggering £1m wine bill
It's one of the Government's most closely guarded secrets. But we can reveal the contents of the fabled Whitehall cellar. By Marie Woolf and Raymond Whitaker
Published: 02 April 2006

Nearly 40,000 of Britain's most closely guarded secrets are held in the vaults of Lancaster House, just off The Mall in London. The details are so sensitive that the Government has resisted several attempts under the Freedom of Information Act to have them made public.

Today, however, The Independent on Sunday is in a position to lift a corner of this shroud of secrecy. Since Tony Blair took office in 1997, we can reveal, New Labour has spent almost £1m of taxpayers' money on replenishing the supplies cellared under Lancaster House.