DURING his 10 years at the top, Tony Blair was a regular visitor to Worcestershire.

Most recently, the Prime Minister visited in February 2005 when he was accused of snubbing county residents by refusing to answer questions.

During his visit, he went sailing at the Upton Warren Outdoor Education Centre, near Droitwich.

Officials said he was too busy to talk to reporters about why Worcestershire gets a raw deal with regard to Government funding.

He also went on a whistle-stop tour of Redditch.

Mr Blair previously came to the county in 2001 during the foot-and-mouth crisis, when he went to talk to staff at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs headquarters in Whittington Road, Worcester.

He also came to the county in July 1998, when a fresh-faced Mr Blair hosted a forum called the people's debate' at Worcester's Guildhall.

The historic home of Worcester City Council was selected as the venue to launch a series of question and answer sessions around the country.

It was at a time when there was still tremendous optimism about what Blair and New Labour could accomplish after years of Conservative government in Britain.

A packed audience grilled him on a range of issues, from Northern Ireland to education, and how to best motivate staff.

Councillor Roger Berry, who led the Labour group in Worcester at the time, said: "As I remember, it was a consultation with ordinary people. Labour did a lot of that in those days."

Even before he was elected Mr Blair was keen to meet the people of Worcestershire.

As part of his campaign trail in April 1997, he visited Arrowvale High School in Redditch to secure the support of Worcestershire voters.

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