And so an era comes to an end. Tony Blair has announced his resignation, and finally put a date on the departure of a prime minister that Worcester Woman helped bring to power.

As the countdown begins to the day the removal vans pull up outside Downing Street, what are we to make of the Blair years?

Britain has changed so much in the last decade, it's hard to remember now those hopeful days of 1997, when a smiling, media-savvy young prime minister strolled into Number 10 on the back of a landslide election result, to the uplifting strains of Things Can Only Get Better.

Things did indeed get better, and Worcester Woman will probably be pretty happy with her lot after a decade under New Labour.

The Blair-Brown axis has steered Britain's economy adroitly and we are now, as a nation, richer than at any time since the Second World War.

Money has been poured into public services, and while the results have been mixed, education and the health service have arguably improved.

Then there is the introduction of the minimum wage, which hauled millions above the poverty line, not to mention perhaps the crowning achievement of the Blair years, the end of the conflict in Northern Ireland - a resolution which owes much to Mr Blair's personal charisma.

But it hasn't been all good. Sleaze, crime and waste have all tarnished the New Labour project.

And then there is Iraq. Whatever good Mr Blair has done for Britain, many will never forgive him for that.

But whatever you think of Tony Blair, the legacy of this pivotal prime minister will live on after he has gone.