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CJ Cregg
Commodore
Joined: 05 Oct 2002
Posts: 1254
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 Thu May 04, 2006 3:24 pm Tony Blair faces key vote test |
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| Quote: | Tony Blair faces key vote test
LONDON, England (CNN) -- Just a year after securing an historic third term, British Prime Minister Tony Blair faces an electoral test Thursday that could increase pressure on him to announce a timetable for leaving the political stage.
Blair's embattled Labor Party, dogged by a recent string of controversies, could suffer heavy losses in Thursday's balloting for seats on 176 local government councils across England. While that won't directly affect the prime minister's parliamentary majority, a particularly poor showing could fuel calls for him to say when he will step aside.
During his campaign for a third term last year, Blair pledged not to stand again as Labor leader in the next general election. But that election isn't expected until 2009 or 2010, and he has so far refused to be pinned down on a date certain to step aside.
Thursday's vote will also mark the first test for the Conservative Party's new leader, David Cameron, a telegenic 39-year-old who was picked in December to try to lead his once-dominant party out of nearly a decade in the political wilderness.
The local election comes amid a nasty row over revelations that 1,000 criminals from foreign countries were released from British prisons without being considered for deportation. Blair has resisted demands from opposition parties that he sack Home Secretary Charles Clarke, whose department was responsible for the releases.
As that controversy was brewing, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott was forced to acknowledge that he had an extramarital affair with a woman in his department after photographs of the pair were splashed across tabloid newspapers.
Police are also investigating whether seats in the House of Lords, the unelected upper chamber of Parliament, were doled out to financial backers in return for loans to the Labor Party. And Blair and his ministers have also had to deal with fallout from controversial health service reforms that recently prompted nurses to publicly boo and heckle Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt.
Blair, 52, became prime minister in 1997, after leading his party to a landslide victory that ended 18 years of Conservative rule. He was re-elected in 2001 and then again last May, becoming the first Labor leader to secure three terms in office.
However, with his popularity sapped by his support for the invasion of Iraq and close alliance with President Bush, Blair's 2005 victory was somewhat anemic. Labor captured just 35 percent of the vote and lost 47 seats, although it still maintained a parliamentary majority.
Blair's replacement as Labor leader is widely expected to be Gordon Brown, 55, who oversees fiscal and budget policy as chancellor of the exchequer.
Up for grabs Thursday are 4,360 seats on 176 local councils across England, including London. There are no elections in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. (2 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET)
CNN European Political Editor Robin Oakley contributed to this report. |
Expect Labour to be slaughtered in the election, Blair gone before the end of the year
LIVE VIDEO NEWS FEED FOR RESULTS
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Republican_Man
STV's Premier Conservative
Joined: 26 Mar 2004
Posts: 14823
Location: Classified
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| Thu May 04, 2006 5:02 pm |
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I hope not. We need him to continue as Prime Minister.
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"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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Seven of Nine
Sammie's Mammy
Joined: 16 Jun 2001
Posts: 7871
Location: North East England
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| Fri May 05, 2006 3:32 am |
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No we don't.
The Lib Dems won in my ward. Yay!
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CJ Cregg
Commodore
Joined: 05 Oct 2002
Posts: 1254
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| Fri May 05, 2006 8:00 am |
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| Quote: | Conservatives and Far Right make gains on bad night for Labour
Mark Oliver and agencies
Friday May 5, 2006
Guardian Unlimited
Labour suffered disastrous results in last night's local elections in England and was today reeling from its worst share of the vote since the Falklands war in 1982.
By 8am this morning, Labour were on a projected 26% of the vote, behind the Tories on 40% and the Liberal Democrats on 27%.
Labour lost more than 200 councillors and relinquished control of 16 town halls, with the Tories benefiting most.
The prime minister, Tony Blair, was at Downing Street this morning reshuffling his cabinet. Among the changes to emerge so far the home secretary, Charles Clarke, has been sacked and the deputy prime minister, John Prescott, has been stripped of his wide-ranging departmental brief.
Jack Straw has left the Foreign Office to become leader of the house, replaced by Margaret Beckett as secretary of state and Geoff Hoon as minister for Europe.
The strong showing by the Conservative party - which gained more than 200 councillors - is the kind it would need if it has any hope of winning the next general election.
David Cameron had a successful first test at the ballot box as party leader and said he was happy after his party past the totemic 40% share of the vote.
A Sky News projection suggested that the Conservatives would have a 10-seat majority in the House of Commons if last night's figures were repeated in a general election.
Labour's losses were more than double the 100 council seats the party had indicated it could live with in the poll.
Some commentators noted, however, that Labour - rocked by recent scandals and the foreign offenders affair at the Home Office - had avoided a "total meltdown" at the ballot box.
There was, however, the inevitable speculation that the bad results would quicken the arrival of the chancellor, Gordon Brown, at No 10.
The Tories fared much better in London and the south than further north, and Mr Cameron failed to gain a toehold in cities such as Manchester and Newcastle. The Tories came an embarrassing fourth to the Greens in Liverpool.
Mr Cameron denied Labour claims that the results showed a north-south divide in the political landscape of England, with the Tories failing to break out of their traditional heartlands.
It was a mixed night for the Liberal Democrats and their new leader, Sir Menzies Campbell, with the party failing to capitalise as well as they might have hoped from Labour's woes. The Liberal Democrats made a net gain of 18 councillors and gained control of one council, Richmond-upon-Thames. The party also increased its majority in its flagship council, Newcastle upon Tyne.
There were some gains for the far-right British National party. By early this morning, the BNP had won from Labour at total of 11 of the 13 seats it had contested in Barking, east London.
The BNP also picked up council seats in Solihull, Stoke-on-Trent and Sandwell in the West Midlands but was being repelled in parts of the north, including Rotherham.
Half the UK electorate, approximately 23 million people, were entitled to vote yesterday in what was the largest electoral test for the parties ahead of the next general election, expected in 2009 or 2010.
A total of 4,360 council seats were fought for last night, including 144 English authorities. More than 40% of the seats being contested last night were in London, where all 32 of London boroughs had elections.
It was in London where Labour had its worst losses, being toppled in 10 town halls including Merton, Camden, Lewisham, Brent and Hammersmith and Fulham which went blue for the first time since 1968, with the Tories overturning a 12- seat Labour majority.
In Bexley, the Tories seized control from Labour, gaining 23 seats and leaving Mr Blair's party with a rump of just nine councillors.
Labour also suffered a drubbing in Tower Hamlets, with George Galloway's Respect party predicted to become the second largest party behind the Liberal Democrats in a bitter contest with fierce allegations of ballot rigging from all sides.
There were Tory wins in areas such as Shrewsbury and Atcham, Bassetlaw and Mole Valley. In Crawley the party took control from Labour for the first time in three decades. Ealing, where the Tories won last night, is considered a "bellweather" seat where the winning party traditionally goes on to win a general election. |
So bad that Blair how now reshuffled the government in a panic. The lib Dem's had a mediocre night. No real progress, but excellent if compared to their state in January. Tories did well and shockingly the far right BNP have made significant gains
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