Cherie Blair to talk with Tania Bryer for CNBC

The next episode of CNBC Meets, presenter Tania Bryer conducts a very personal interview with Cherie Blair CBE, which will air first in the UK.

In what the broadcaster say is an honest and frank interview, Cherie tells Tania about her childhood, growing up with her mother and grandmother in a suburb of Liverpool and how after her father abandoned them, it impacted her life.

She discusses the influence of her strong religious upbringing, how she fought hard to get an education in London and how she became a barrister.

Cherie talks openly about her husband, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and their deep relationship which has kept them together for more than 30 years, through the ups and downs of his political career. She also discusses the criticism she was subjected to when in Downing Street and how it affected their children. The 30-minute programme also features an interview with Tony Blair, who reflects on the contribution that his wife made throughout his career, and with Sir Bob Geldof.

In the interview, Cherie opens up about her feelings when they exited Number 10 and what her life entails now after founding her own Foundation to help women across the world.

Tania Bryer commented, “I think that people will be surprised to learn about Cherie, what motivates her and how she has been able to juggle the demands of being a QC, the Prime Minister’s wife and a philanthropist.

“We did the interview in Lincoln’s Inn, in the room where she first met Tony just after they left university, so it helped bring back a lot of memories for her.”

In the interview Cherie discusses why she is such a strong advocate of women’s equality and entrepreneurship:

“Being brought up by strong women I was very keen to do something for other women. Not least because in my time in Number 10 I had had the opportunity to meet some incredible women, women like Hillary Clinton or Laura Bush who were doing great things in their role as First Lady… to women I met in Tanzania who were starting their own small businesses or in India who were standing up against violence against women.

“I realised there was a huge strength in women across the world and yet many of those women were more in the position of my mother and grandmother than they were in the position of me, a fortunate woman, and what could I do to help them. I didn’t want my time in Downing Street to just be some amazing experience for me, I wanted to use what I’d learnt to give something back and I wanted to do that for women.”

The interview will air on the 15th May at 10.00pm in the UK.