LONDON -- Prime Minister Tony Blair is dithering, the nation -- or at least the tabloids -- are waiting, his expectant wife wants him to, but talk show opinion is divided. Should Blair take parental leave when his fourth child is born in May?

"I've got a country to run. . . . I honestly don't know what to do," Blair said, sounding distinctly unlike a politician in a recent British Broadcasting Corp. interview.Blair, 46, looked uneasy, caught between the politically fashionable view of left-of-center European parties about shared modern parenting and, well, just wanting to keep running Britain.

His wife, 45-year-old Cherie, a high-flying lawyer, is piling on the public pressure.

Last week, she praised Finnish Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen for taking six days' parental leave after his wife, Paivi, gave birth to their second daughter in March. Lipponen also took time off in 1998 for the birth of his first child.

"I, for one, am promoting a widespread adoption of this fine example," Cherie Blair told a gathering of lawyers in London.

That was enough to get the tabloids going again about the baby -- already an object of public fascination as an unexpected addition to the prime minister's 10 Downing Street residence. The Blairs already have two teenage sons and a 12-year-old daughter.

"Show new dads the way, Tony," declared The Mirror, a Labor-supporting mass-circulation tabloid, arguing that Blair has a duty to take at least a week off.

Under new European Union-wide regulations, parents are entitled to 13 weeks of unpaid time off during the first five years of a child's life. The rules don't apply to elected officials such as Blair but set a tone that could be awkward for him to ignore.

Even Blair's minister for women, Baroness Margaret Jay, said on a BBC talk show that "it would be nice" if Blair followed Lipponen's example, carefully adding that it was up to him, of course.

Still, Blair is no doubt mindful that parliament will be in session throughout May, and no recess is planned for the baby's arrival. And, while he has taken vacations in the past, it is usually only for a week.

The opposition Conservative Party claims Blair wouldn't dare leave his deputy, John Prescott, a blunt-spoken former ship's waiter with a penchant for political gaffes, at the helm of government.

The tabloid Sun, Britain's top-selling newspaper, agreed that no one wanted Prescott running the country. The paper suggested a compromise: "Perhaps Blair should work from home."

View Comments

Max Clifford, a publicist known for lucrative handling of the private lives of celebrities, has urged Blair to get right back to work after the birth of the baby, due May 24.

"Three hours is a long time in politics, let alone three weeks," Clifford said.

But Edwina Currie, a former Conservative government minister, thinks he should take at least a short break.

"I hope he takes a week off," she said. "Any longer, and he'll be exhausted."

Join the Conversation
Looking for comments?
Find comments in their new home! Click the buttons at the top or within the article to view them — or use the button below for quick access.