Tony Blair thought he was the MESSIAH and often wore MAKE-UP, ex-PM's former friend claims
TONY Blair believed he was a god-like figure who has arguably lost his mind, a former close friend of the ex-Prime Minister has said.
Tony Blair, left, thought he was god-like and is 'strange' mentally, says Robert Harris, right
Robert Harris, a best-selling novelist and former journalist, said that Mr Blair had a "messianic" view of politics and the Chilcot Report was like "him being nailed to the cross".
Mr Harris shed light on personal details about Mr Blair, such as his reported desire to wear make-up regularly.
He said: "He often wore make-up, even when he wasn't on TV.
"Maybe it just appealed to his sense of always being a performer."
Robert Harris has slammed Tony Blair and questioned his mental state
Tony Blair looked like Christ nailed to the cross after the Chilcot Report, Mr Harris said
Adding to the notion of Mr Blair being a very egotistical leader, Mr Harris declared his shock at Mr Blair's view of himself and also how much he has disintegrated mentally.
The 59-year-old said: "He had a very personal messianic view of politics. As things went wrong he developed a kind of messianic strategy that really almost reached full flowering with the publication of the Chilcot Report.
"It was like Christ nailed to the cross.
There was a massive public backlash to the war in Iraq prior to Chilcot's damning verdict
"You can never be sure where the public performance ends and the man begins – he was playing Christ on the cross.
He added: "He's morphed into a figure that's not quite of this world.
"He said all prime ministers go mad in the end but none have gone quite as strange as Tony Blair."
The former BBC journalist also revealed how M Blair wanted to rule the country largely by himself, shunning his Cabinet's involvement where possible.
He said: "The first warning sign I got was discussing Cabinet meetings at Chequers.
"He wanted meetings to be one 45-minute session every week as opposed to two hours twice a week.
"I realised it would be a very personal, one-man government."