How presidential is the premiership of Tony Blair?

The traditional view of the UKs constitutional arrangement of power in government has been that decision making in the executive rests with the cabinet, with the Prime Minister acting as first amongst equals. However, this has been challenged by many recently, who argue Margaret Thatcher in particular challenged and now Tony Blair has almost eliminated cabinet government, and is the most powerful Prime Minister in the modern era. Some have claimed that Blair is now more of a Presidential figure than a Prime Minister working within the context of cabinet government, in that he exercises personal control over the executive branch and we have an executive decision and policy making process based on an individual rather than a collective body….(short extract)