Cherie says hi to Adelaide

Adelaide's role in the childhood of British Prime Minister Tony Blair received a mention recently by none other than Mr Blair's wife, Cherie.

Mrs Blair - described by Forbes magazine as the most powerful woman in the United Kingdom and the 12th most powerful woman in the world - was on a speaking tour in Australia and New Zealand last month to promote her new book and to help raise funds for the Children's Cancer Institute Australia.

Mrs Blair's tour included Adelaide, which was the first time she had visited the city.

During her speech at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Mrs Blair showed photos of a young Tony at play and with his family in the Adelaide suburb of Dulwich.

Tony Blair spent three years of his early childhood in Adelaide while his father, Leo, was a Law lecturer at the University of Adelaide. He lived just a few kilometres from the university in Ormond Grove, Dulwich, one of Adelaide's inner eastern suburbs, from 1955 to 1958.

Mrs Blair said her husband was only a pre-schooler at the time and "can't remember a thing about Adelaide". However, she said his time in Adelaide had obviously had an important impact on the young Tony whether he knew it or not, attributing Mr Blair's "love for the sun" to his childhood years in Australia.

Mrs Blair's book, written under her maiden name, Cherie Booth, and co-authored by Cate Haste, is called The Goldfish Bowl: married to the Prime Minister.

Story by David Ellis