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Blair faces heavy losses in European vote
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| Contributor | Easily Offended Man |
| Last Edited | Easily Offended Man Jun 10, 2004 06:27am |
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| Category | News |
| Media | Newspaper - Irish Times |
| News Date | Thursday, June 10, 2004 06:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Britons went to the polls today in local and European elections, with Prime Minister Tony Blair braced for heavy losses in his biggest test before the next general election.
A poor result in the votes for local councils, the European parliament and London mayor caused by a backlash over the Iraq war could rekindle talk of leadership change.
But opinion polls show the opposition Conservatives are also likely to lose ground, with disillusioned voters turning to smaller parties like the eurosceptic UK Independence Party.
This week's UN agreement on Iraq and the prospect of the handover of sovereignty to Iraqis offers Mr Blair some hope that fierce opposition to the war may start to wane, but it will not come in time for today's polls.
The main threat to Mr Blair comes from Labour Party members fearing for their seats who may call for his head if the outcome is very bad, say political analysts. Britain's next general election is expected in a year's time.
Once the party's main electoral asset, Mr Blair has been absent from campaign literature and one poll this week indicated Labour might even get a shock in London.
It showed the Conservative candidate for London mayor almost level with Mr Ken Livingstone, a maverick left-winger readmitted to the Labour Party after winning as an independent last time and until now the hot favourite.
The polls have been by overshadowed by postal voting chaos. The experiment, designed to boost turnout, has been dogged by allegations of fraud and claims that thousands of voters received their ballot paper too late. |
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