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November 28, 2023 - 10:00am
It’s boom time for the Tony Blair Institute. According to its latest accounts, the organisation created and run by the former prime minister to promote “global change” saw its turnover jump by 50% in 2022 — enough to generate a multimillion pound “surplus” for the second year running.
The Tony Blair Institute, or TBI as it is known to everyone who works there, describes itself as a “not-for-profit entity that provides expert advice to political leaders worldwide on strategy, policy and delivery, unlocking the power of technology across all three”. To some of those on the inside it is, in effect, a “McKinsey for world leaders”, a consultancy advising governments how to govern (often for a hefty fee).
While there are arms of the TBI, including a think tank, it is this side of the organisation which has gone into overdrive following the appointment of former Justin Trudeau adviser and McKinsey veteran Mike McNair as the TBI’s Global Managing Director in April 2022.
The figures are contained in the not-for-profit’s accounts for the 2022 calendar year. They show turnover up from $81,286,000 in 2021 to $121,250,000 last year, a $40 million increase amounting to a 49% jump.
While turnover has risen, so too have the TBI’s overheads — with “group expenditure” growing by 56% and staff numbers up 53%. Despite the increase in expenditure, however, the Institute managed to maintain a “surplus” (rather than profit) of $16.8 million, slightly down from the $17 million the previous year. As such, the TBI paid $6.5 million in tax last year.
Buried in the accounts included the figure of $448,000 paid in redundancy costs during the year — evidence, perhaps, of the extent to which the organisation has restructured itself over the past year, shifting its focus towards tech-heavy government consultancy under the leadership of McNair.
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SubscribeJust what sort of “not for profit” pays its 4 directors over $1m a year (the highest paid one made $662K) ? And generates a “surplus” (profit) of $17m ?
A profit of $17m on a turnover of $121m is an almost 15% margin. That doesn’t happen by accident and suggests this business is actually being run for profit.
What is curious here is that the institute is registered in London (as are its accountants), yet the financial reporting is in US$.
Of the $6.5m taxes, $3.7m were paid in the UK and $2.8m somewhere overseas. Not clear why these were not all paid in the UK.
From the accounts:
“The financial statements are presented in US Dollars which has been determined as the functional currency of the Group. ”
Finally this:
“CONTROLLING PARTY The Group and Company is controlled by ACL Blair, being the only subscribing member of the Company”
Wholly owned by Blair. I guess that includes all the “surpluses”. Quelle surprise !
To paraphrase an old saying about the Scots:
“There are few more impressive sights than a [Socialist] on the make”
You think Tony Blair is a Socialist?!?!?
That’s dumb even for you!
So you’re still trying to pass yourself off as a politically astute Lefty [stop laughing at the back]. And that “Champagne” moniker – who are you kidding? All your comments bear the unmistakable yobbish tone of a bog standard state education – more beer’n’farts than champagne surely.
OK brains, your turn …
You feel better after that, fella?
Truly feeble response. A lame attempt at a snappy rejoinder perhaps? Not exactly Oscar Wilde is it?
Word of advice: if you want to be an effective heckler your comments need to be sharp pithy and (if you can manage it, witty). Sadly, at the moment you sound like a football yobbo jeering at a rival team’s supporters.
Now, try again…
The Tony Blair Institute is controlled by Tony Blair?!?!?
This is a disgrace!!! Have you informed the authorities of this scandal?!?
LOL! You people are really hilarious!
You claim you read the comments. But it doesn’t seem you were paying much attention when you did so.
You might want to ask yourself why a “non-profit” organisation (that’s more or less a charity) is 100% owned by an individual and at the same time intentionally generating large cash surpluses (statistically impossible this is accidental – and these surpluses could also have been donated to charity if they were not needed – quite easy to become a real non-profit by doing that).
I’m fairly sure you’d be asking those same questions if it were a Tory politician doing the same thing. And quite rightly so.
Just to be clear, I am not suggesting that Blair’s behaviour here has been – to use your phrase “crooked”. I’m sure it’s all quite legal. I just happen to find it immoral and unethical. Which would apply to anyone from any political background who did something like this.
You might also want to think about how rigourously money laundering regulations have been applied to donations from places like Kazakhstan.
I don’t hate Blair. How could I since I don’t know the man. I just despise him for his behaviour and what he’d done to our country. And his blatant “third way” hypocrisy – a man who’s out to prove that one can serve both God and mammon.
You don’t hate Blair, you just despise him?
You may wish to rethink that one, old boy!
As for the rest of your word salad, please come back to me when you have decided what you are annoyed about except for the fact of Tony Blair’s existence and his success. What you find “immoral and unethical” is of little interest to anyone.
Blair’s an expert, is he? He managed to strategise and deliver on the bad stuff – starting wars, destabilising populations, thwarting the political ambitions of erstwhile friends, and undertaking constitutional reform with the aplomb of a blind surgeon with a sledgehammer. But his attempts to make positive changes in the NHS, Social Care, and other bread-and-butter departmental issues were well below average. For those who haven’t read it, Tom Bower’s political biography is an eye-opener. Blair’s administration grasped the levers of power, only to find that they weren’t connected to anything.
“not-for-profit entity that provides expert advice to political leaders worldwide on strategy, policy and delivery, unlocking the power of technology across all three”
So it’s a buzzword delivery system. Got it.
You can see the evil he has done etched on his face like a latter day Dorian Gray
Ya. I need Tony Blair and company for tech support. The whole thing smells stinky. He’s probably being paid for access to all the right people.
Tony, Mendelson and Campbell have done very nicely since vacating no.10.
Noses pressed firmly into the trough no doubt.
Its called working hard and being successful.
You might want to try it…
Quite sure it isn’t crony capitalism ?
Yes.
I refer you to Boris “Bunter” Johnson for crony capiltalism.
What do working hard and being successful have to do with each other? Shouldn’t it be, “from each according to their ability, to each according to their need”?
“What do working hard and being successful have to do with each other? ”
The fact that you don’t know this explains your lack of success.
“Shouldn’t it be, “from each according to their ability, to each according to their need”?”
You obviously have no clue what that means.
You want to try again, sport?
I don’t know, I’ve never been particularly good at sports.
Or reading comprehension apparently!
Stop using such big words!
No doubt he modelled his profitable charity on the similar mechanism established by Bill and Hilary Clinton. They’re all the same, these people! Just awful!
How much did you donate to the Trump foundation so that fat grifter could buy hideous portraits of himself?
Money well spent? LOL!
Blair’s a believer apparantly; his account before the Almighty will be interesting.
Larry Ellison will do that for you.
Welcome the scrutiny on TBI. Probably helps it medium term address potential deficiencies and governance mistakes, including the message Exec salaries can give. Sunlight always beneficial.
Of course though this is hardly unique. In other News today the Koch Network in the US just come out for Nikki Haley. The fact that’s news is because the power of such donor networks is immense and much more prevalent on the Right, at least in the US. Of course who in the UK would back the Tories now, or the Reform jokers, a separate issue, but one wonders if Unherd should do a piece on Tufton St, the funding behind the various Right Wing Think Tanks etc- given it’s role in leading us to the current nirvana in which we all exist!. We’ll see won’t we how pluralist Unherd is on this matter.
The Koch network is deploying c£50-60m in campaign funding. The TBI doesn’t do that and it is certainly less in the shadows than likes of the Koch network. It looks for influence in other ways undoubtedly.
The Anti-Christ.
Ah! A new target for today’s Unherd 2 minutes hate!
I see no one can actually articulate an reason for your insane derangement towards Blair – you just hate him and that’s it.
I do find it highly amusing when Trump worshippers and Boris Johnson fanatics suggest that anyone else might be slightly crooked in their business dealings!!!
Would disdain for Blair, Trump and Johnson meet your mark?
Ah, ACL Blair – ‘..a pretty straight sort of a guy…’ He called a press conference to tell us he was. Who TF does that?
I don’t hate Blair. I do however have issue with many of the policies which were introduced whilst he was in Government and which are causing serious issues in present day UK. Devolution being one such problems. The changes to the British (unwritten) constitution and introduction of the Human Rights Act. We managed to survive quite well as a nation without the HRA.
What’s less clear is why 13yrs of Tory rule hasn’t led to these issues being addressed? Is that because they actually agree with them but can’t admit that? Or is it incompetence and despite being in power couldn’t get organised enough to make such changes?
I think fine to blame Blair if he’d left office a couple of years ago. He left 16yrs ago. It’s somewhat snowflakey to be blaming someone that far in the past isn’t it?
Now I know the retort might be Blairism created some conspiratorial Blob that has prevented such changes. I should confess I no more believe that than I believe in the tooth fairy and others should be the same if they want to be credible.