Trimdon Labour Club was a bar and local branch of Sedgefield Labour Party in the village of

Trimdon Trimdon is a village in County Durham, in England. Name and etymology The name ''Trimdon'' is recorded in the forms ''Tremeldon'' (1196) and ''Tremedon'' (1262) during the Medieval era. It appears to be of Old English origin, with the a meani ...

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

in England. It opened in 1993, as a conversion of a former

working men's club Working men's clubs are British private social clubs first created in the 19th century in industrial areas, particularly the North of England, Midlands, Scotland, Northern Ireland and South Wales Valleys, to provide recreation and education ...

. It was the local Labour Club of former British

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

, who lived in nearby Trimdon Colliery.

History

Trimdon Labour Club opened in its former state as a

in 1919, serving beer to mineworkers from a barrel in a farmer's cottage. It fell into disrepair in the 1980s, before the local

Constituency Labour Party A constituency Labour Party (CLP) is an organisation of members of the British Labour Party who live in a particular parliamentary constituency. In England and Wales, CLP boundaries coincide with those for UK parliamentary constituencies. In Sc ...

took on the running of the club. It was opened in its repurposed state in 1993 by former

Labour Leader The ''Labour Leader'' was a British socialist newspaper published for almost one hundred years. It was later renamed ''New Leader'' and ''Socialist Leader'', before finally taking the name ''Labour Leader'' again. 19th century The origins of th ...

Neil Kinnock Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock (born 28 March 1942) is a Welsh politician who was Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1983 Labour Party le ...

, with the help of a £350 loan from Sedgefield Labour Party. A year later, in 1994, then-

Shadow Home Secretary In British politics, the shadow home secretary (formally known as the shadow secretary of state for the home department) is the person within the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (UK), shadow cabinet who shadows the home secretary; this effecti ...

and MP for Sedgefield Tony Blair announced that he would stand to be Leader of the Labour Party. He succeeded, replacing John Smith, who had died suddenly of a heart attack.

Rise to fame

In 1997, Tony Blair became Prime Minister following a

landslide election A landslide victory is an election result in which the winning candidate or party achieves a decisive victory by an overwhelming margin, securing a very large majority of votes or seats far beyond the typical competitive outcome. The term became ...

, ending 18 years of

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

rule. His victory speech came from the stage inside the club, sweeping the Labour Party into power and Blair into Number 10 Downing Street. The next year, Blair accompanied French Prime Minister

Lionel Jospin Lionel Robert Jospin (; born 12 July 1937) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002. Jospin was First Secretary of the French Socialist Party, First Secretary of the Socialist Party from 1995 to 1997 and th ...

for a pint of beer in the bar, and in 1999 a phone call was received from US President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

, to which the barmaid asked customers: "Is Tony Blair in?" Blair's agent, John Burton asked who it was, and the barmaid replied that it was "someone called Clinton". Five years later, Clinton's successor

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

and First Lady

Laura Bush Laura Lane Welch Bush (née Welch; born November 4, 1946) is an American educator who was the first lady of the United States from 2001 to 2009 as the wife of George W. Bush, the 43rd president of the United States. Bush was previously the fir ...

called into the club on a visit to the UK with Blair and his wife

Cherie Cherie is an English female given name. It comes from the French ''chérie'', meaning ''darling'' (from the past participle of the verb ''chérir'', ''to cherish''). It has also been used as a diminutive of names starting with or containing the s ...

. In June 2007, Blair announced his resignation from the same stage as his election victory speech 10 years earlier, to a crowd of local Labour supporters and anti-war protesters. He returned the next year to make a speech in support of

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Ex ...

, who was elected Prime Minister after Blair's resignation.

Demise

In 2010, three years after Blair gave up his Sedgefield seat, Trimdon Labour Club closed, citing reasons including the increase in

satellite television Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location.ITU Radio Regulations, Section IV. Radio Stations and Systems ...

, the

smoking ban Smoking bans, or smoke-free laws, are public policies, including criminal laws and occupational safety and health regulations, that prohibit tobacco smoking in certain spaces. The spaces most commonly affected by smoking bans are indoor employ ...

and cheap supermarket alcohol, all of which reduced custom to the club. The decision was confirmed after the new Conservative

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and the head of HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, t ...

George Osborne George Gideon Oliver Osborne (born 23 May 1971) is a British retired politician and newspaper editor who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 and as First Secretary of State from 2015 to 2016 in the Cameron government. A ...

announced a hike in the rate of VAT in that year's budget, making staying open unrealistic. The £350 loan from Sedgefield Labour Party was repaid, and the club's secretary Paul Trippet announced that the club would close on 22 July 2010. The former club is now a carpet shop.

References

{{Reflist, 40em Buildings and structures in County Durham History of the Labour Party (UK) 1919 establishments in England 2010 disestablishments in England Working men's clubs Trimdon