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News is filtering in this morning that long-time British Prime Minister Tony Blair will publicly announce his chosen date for retirement from his duties to the Crown. Blair’s intention to leave office prior to the expiration of his term has been well known for some time, but today he shared the date with his cabinet and at this hour is traveling to his local constituency to publicly announce his imminent departure. The announcement now opens the door for the leadership contest that in all likelihood will result in the ascendency of Blair’s hand-picked successor Gordon Brown to Prime Minister. Whether or not Brown becomes the next PM, the United States relationship with Great Britain is almost certain to change.

In this age when the partnership of global players on the world stage is constantly in flux, the United States has always found a friend in Tony Blair and Great Britain. Yes, our countries have been staunch allies for over 100 hundred years, but that alliance often waxed and waned dependent upon the political influences at work in each of our respective lands. In recent history, President Reagan and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher enjoyed a shared commitment to conservative governance and that commitment showed in the warm relations between our two countries. When Thatcher gave way to John Major in the PM’s chair, the relationship cooled. Contrastly, the Blair reign has seen two politically different U.S. administrations (Clinton and Bush), yet the bond between our countries has remained consistently strong.

Tony Blair transformed the British Labor party from one that bordered on Socialist to that of the middle of the road. The Prime Minister shared a kinship with President Clinton in their youthful approach to governance and the image of a bright new future. While no in the United States would ever claim the monstrosity of the British public welfare system as conservative, the relationship between Blair and Bush appears stronger in many ways to that of the Clinton-Blair pairing. Whenever President Bush needed a friend he could always holler an enthusiastic “Yo Blair!” and receive a friendly reply.

Now things are changing.

All signs point to the fact that Gordon Brown will sit next in the Prime Minister’s chair, but no one knows how that will impact the U.S.-British compact. Given the current apprehension that the British citizenry has with the war in Iraq, an astute political maneuver by Brown would be to distance himself from the war and work to extricate British troops. Such a move would of course have a strong negative backlash on Bush and the U.S. effort against terrorism.

Additionally, it is questionable how long a Brown ministry will remain. Typically the successor to a leader of lengthy stature finds their stay in office to be a short one, and the rumors have been swirling since Blair originally announced that he would step down early that Brown would have difficulty staying in power. Couple that with recent electoral success of Scottish separatists in local elections (Brown is a Scotsman and thus an Independent Scotland would leave no place for him in the British Commons) and Brown shouldn’t make himself to comfortable at #10 Downing Street.

We’ll miss Tony Blair. In the chaotic world that envelopes our future, the United States always had a friend we could rely on and it’s not likely we’ll see that again anytime soon.