Her father Tony Booth walked out when she was two. He would later gain fame for his role in the BBC comedy Til Death Us Do Part,
She studied at the London School of Economics for a law degree, which she earned with first class honours, and then came top of her year in the bar exams.
In 1976, while she was studying to become a lawyer, she met Tony Blair. They married in 1980.
Cherie Blair unsuccessfully contested the seat of Thanet North in Kent at the 1983 general election, while her husband won his safe seat in Sedgefield, County Durham in the same election.
In 2002, she hit the newspaper headlines because of her involvement with Peter Foster, a convicted Australian conman who assisted her with the purchase of two flats in Bristol. The newspapers referred to the scandal as 'Cheriegate'.
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