LONDON: Cherie Blair's chances of becoming a senior judge may have been jeopardised after one of her disgusted colleagues demanded her resignation from the judiciary over her "disgraceful" autobiography.
The wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, a human rights QC, is a part-time judge and presides over cases as a recorder.
"It is the kind of conduct which demeans the legal profession. It is altogether disgraceful but nothing less than I would expect from her. I would have thought there is no chance of her becoming a senior judge," said Gerald Butler QC, a former senior judge at Southwark Crown Court in London.
"What she has done is not appropriate for somebody who sits as a recorder. I don't think she should continue to sit as a recorder," the Daily Telegraph of Britain quoted Butler as telling the Evening Standard newspaper.
He said if she wants to tread this path of making money by outrageous comments, that is up to her, but I don't think this is a job for a judge. "It shows a complete lack of any kind of decency".
Butler said Cherie's decision to include indiscreet details about such senior figures as the Queen and US Presidents in her memoirs 'Speaking For Myself' had brought the legal profession into disrepute.
However, Cherie defended herself and said she would not resign from the judiciary.
"I certainly won't (resign)," she said. "The law is very much an important part of my life. I enjoy the law and I intend to continue to practise," she said in an interview on Radio 4's Woman's Hour.
Cherie's autobiography, which is being serialised by The Times daily of London, has been controversial, with revealing intimate details of her personal life. Many have also accused her of causing embarrassment to Prime Minister Gordon Brown and cashing in on his present political woes.
