Blair's bloody nose: Tories make gains in local elections ..

[struggle4progress]

.. at Labour's expense
PM to reshuffle Cabinet today in bid to reassert his authority

By Andrew Grice, Political Editor
Published: 05 May 2006

Tony Blair's hopes of hanging on to power received a setback early today as Labour suffered losses in the local authority elections.

Mr Blair will carry out a swift cabinet reshuffle in an attempt to show that his Government has not run out of steam after a disappointing performance by Labour in yesterday's council elections ...

As the polls closed at 10pm after elections in 176 councils in England, Labour officials braced themselves for a disastrous night. They forecast that the party's losses could rise over the 400 mark when the counting of votes is completed. Twelve local authorities have delayed their counts until today.

Labour strategists predicted the party's share of the total vote could be as low as 25 per cent ­ an even worse showing than at the 2004 local elections, when it managed just 26 per cent ...

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article362113.ece

[marmar]

1. When will Labour be able to shake that rat from their necks?

He's dragging their party down.

[wakeme2008]

3. hehehehehehe just LIKE Bush is hehehehehehehe

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[AX10]

2. Labour better oust Blair ASAP.

[cal04]

4. Blair's Labour Party Loses Seats in Local Government Elections

Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour Party suffered losses in initial results from Britain's local elections, indicating flagging voter support for his government after two weeks of damaging publicity.

With 94 of 176 local council results declared, Labour lost control 96 seats while the Conservative opposition gained 103 and the Liberal Democrats 7 seats, the British Broadcasting Corp. said. Labour lost control of seven councils.

``These elections actually tell us virtually nothing about the next general election, but will offer momentum, or the reverse, to the party leaders,'' said Robert Waller, author of ``The Almanac of British Politics,'' in an interview.

The voting for England's city and district councils is the biggest electoral test since Labour won a third term in office in May 2005. For Blair, 52, poor results may lead to renewed calls from his party to retire. He has already said he will not fight another general election.

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=a0aL3vNemmxY&refer=home