Photo via Daily Mail

Tony Blair commits to new arms race: Former Prime Minister, 73, shows off buff physique as he hits the gym in Indonesia

Read the original at Daily Mail ↗
Cite

Brady, J. (2026, September 23). Tony Blair commits to new arms race: Former Prime Minister, 73, shows off buff physique as he hits the gym in Indonesia. Daily Mail. https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16154907/tony-blair-buff-physique-gym-indonesia.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Daily Mail · collected 2026-09-23 · by Jon Brady

Quick Summary

Tony Blair, former UK Prime Minister and now a key adviser to the Indonesian government, posted an Instagram photo showing his fit physique after working out with Sultan Baktiar Najamudin, Speaker of Indonesia's Regional Representative Council, in Jakarta. The 73-year-old Blair discussed various topics during their workout session, which took place amid ongoing tensions regarding Blair’s role in the Iraq War. Blair has maintained a strong relationship with Indonesian political figures since his visit to the country in 2006 and continues to advise on initiatives such as the establishment of Indonesia's new capital city Nusantara.
Written by AI on 2026-09-23, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Tony Blair, 73, former UK Prime Minister, showcased his fit physique on Instagram after working out with Sultan Baktiar Najamudin, Speaker of Indonesia's Regional Representative Council. The pair exercised together in Indonesia, where Blair was the first British leader to visit in two decades back in 2006. Comments on the post were restricted due to some criticism over Blair’s involvement in the Iraq War, which he led as Prime Minister. Known for his fitness regimen, Blair previously played head-tennis with former football manager Kevin Keegan during a Labour Party Conference in 1995. Najamudin noted that their workout was filled with conversation and story-sharing, emphasizing the importance of staying active and healthy.

Written for “Tony Blair Fitness Controversy” on 2026-11-02, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Tony Blair Fitness Controversy
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

Nothing to compare against. No article is close enough to this one for the pipeline to have linked or judged the pair.
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
15
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
7%
1 of 15 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
68/100
Daily Mail's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-23 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Daily Mail · 8751 article(s) · 21 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 21 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Jon Brady
25 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Football fan Stephen Crean bravely offered assurance to fellow travellers on a train as Anthony Williams, 33, allegedly launched what prosecutors called a 'rampage' onboard the LNER service from Doncaster to London on November 1 last year.
🔮 Discount chain Poundland is reportedly set to enter administration after its owners, who bought the firm for £1, rejected a rescue deal.
🔮 From April, vape shops will no longer be eligible for the 5p discounted rate offered to retail, hospitality or leisure businesses, nor can they claim SBRR.
🔮 But suppliers are concerned that the Be Ready campaign could encourage the kind of hoarding seen during Covid as shelves run bare and online retailers run out of stock.
🔮 Criminologists have warned that the show – which has produced three spin-offs – could be providing a 'how-to script' for copycat killers and would-be murderers.
🔮 The website for the poppy also features a video carrying the slogan 'from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free', which has been interpreted by Jewish organisations as a call for the destruction of Israel.
🔮 The 45-year-old, who had been a friend of Prince William at university, died without making a will, according to documents reviewed by the Daily Mail. The High Court granted letters of administration to his mother Monica Duncan, of Frome in Somerset, in July this year.
🔮 Lord Archer had been entertaining fans at the Leicester Square Theatre in central London on Sunday as he promoted what he had said would be his final book, Adam and Eve, alongside friend Gyles Brandreth.
🔮 I love England, I love Corby,' he said, adding: 'Everyone knows that Hamas is a terrorist organisation that would kill us if we didn't speak against the Jews while living there.
Also by Jon Brady
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 25 articles by Jon Brady →

Topics

Daily Mail Indonesia Indonesian Instagram the Labour Party Conference

Subjects

Blair PERSON · 7× Indonesia GPE · 3× Indonesian NORP · 3× Instagram ORG · 3× Tony Blair PERSON · 3× Britain GPE · 2× Kevin Keegan PERSON · 2× Labour ORG · 2× Najamudin PERSON · 2× Daily Mail ORG · 1×

Narrative

'Most importantly, stay active, stay healthy, and keep your spirits up.' Tony Blair showed off his surprisingly toned physique in a picture shared on Instagram by an Indonesian politician The ex-PM was the first British leader to visit Indonesia in 20 years when he travelled there in 2006 (pictured) Mr Blair's love of fitness is well-documentred and he once memorably played head-tennis with Kevin Keegan during the Labour Party Conference in 1995 (pictured) Comments on the post were restricted after some expressed dismay at the Indonesian politician working out with one of the key figures behind the Iraq War.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-23
🔮 'Most importantly, stay active, stay healthy, and keep your spirits up.' Tony Blair showed off his surprisingly toned physique in a picture shared on Instagram by an Indonesian politician The ex-PM was the first British leader to visit Indonesia in 20 years when he travelled there in 2006 (pictured) Mr Blair's love of fitness is well-documentred and he once memorably played head-tennis with Kevin Keegan during the Labour Party Conference in 1995 (pictured) Comments on the post were restricted after some expressed dismay at the Indonesian politician working out with one of the key figures behind the Iraq War.

Claims (15 extracted, 1 hedged)

- See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Tony Blair has shown off his surprisingly trim biceps in a new gym snap on Instagram. The ex-Labour Prime Minister, 73, looked in tip-top condition as he posed for a picture with Sultan Baktiar Najamudin, Speaker of the Indonesian Regional Representative Council during a workout in the Southeast Asian country. Mr Najamudin, who leads the country's senate, regularly meets with foreign dignitaries. He said in a post on Instagram that there was 'plenty of conversation and story-sharing' with the ex-PM during their workout. asserted
He → see → workout
'This afternoon’s workout felt special because I had the chance to exercise with Mr Tony Blair, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom,' Mr Najamudin wrote. asserted
Najamudin → feel → Kingdom
'Most importantly, stay active, stay healthy, and keep your spirits up.' Tony Blair showed off his surprisingly toned physique in a picture shared on Instagram by an Indonesian politician The ex-PM was the first British leader to visit Indonesia in 20 years when he travelled there in 2006 (pictured) Mr Blair's love of fitness is well-documentred and he once memorably played head-tennis with Kevin Keegan during the Labour Party Conference in 1995 (pictured) Comments on the post were restricted after some expressed dismay at the Indonesian politician working out with one of the key figures behind the Iraq War. asserted
politician → stay → War
Fitness has always been an interest for Mr Blair: his love of table tennis and treadmill running while PM was well-documented, and he chalked up his physical fitness while in No 10 to a stress-busting exercise routine. asserted
he → document → routine
Memorably, he swapped headers with late England legend Kevin Keegan outside the Labour Party Conference in Brighton in 1995. asserted
he → swap → 1995
The precise number of headers the pair exchanged remains up for debate - though Mr Blair maintains it was 29 before the ball hit the ground. asserted
ball → exchange → ground
While PM, he ran a mile for Sport Relief in 2006 alongside sports stars including Sir Steve Redgrave and Fatima Whitbread. asserted
he → run → Redgrave
And even after quitting Downing Street he has maintained his fitness, telling Esquire in 2016: 'I go to the gym most days; it gets more important as you get older.' Mr Blair has built strong relationships with political figures in Indonesia in recent years. asserted
Blair → quit → years
He was the first PM to visit the country in more than 20 years when he travelled to Jakarta in 2006, and later holidayed in Bali with his family in 2009. asserted
he → visit → 2009
Since quitting as PM and establishing the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, Mr Blair has acted as a key adviser to the Indonesian government. He was appointed to serve on the steering committee for the establishment of its new capital city, Nusantara, in 2020. asserted
He → quit → 2020
Indonesia plans to relocate its political hub to the new city, on the island of Borneo, by 2028. asserted
Indonesia → plan → 2028
The ex-PM visited the country in July to visit its sovereign wealth fund, Danantara, and met with the country's president, Prabowo Subianto. asserted
PM → visit → president
However, he was criticised by future PM Andy Burnham in May this year for failing to acknowledge inequality in Britain after Mr Blair wrote a stinging criticism of the Labour government. uncertain
Blair → criticise → government
Mr Blair said the party had 'no coherent plan' for Britain and was stymying business by drifting further to the left. asserted
party → say → left
But Mr Burnham - then in the running for the Labour leadership - told the Observer that the ex-leader failed to understand that 'the last 40 years has given us wide inequality... that’s what’s responsible for the abandonment of the centre'. asserted
what → tell → centre
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support