Poll: Big Labour Losses

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BIG LABOUR LOSSES - POLL

As counting begins in the local council and European elections, a special Sky News poll suggests that if it had been a general election, Tony Blair would still be the Prime Minister, but without an overall majority. In the biggest ever online survey of British opinion, YouGov questioned around 7,000 electors.

And the results suggest that Labour would get 32% of the vote, the Tories 36%, Lib Dems 18%, UK Independence Party 7% and other parties 7%.In the House of Commons that would give Labour 327 seats, down 86; the Tories 257, up 91; Lib Dems 46, down 6, other parties 29 - but UKIP would not get a single seat on those figures.

In London, it looks as if Ken Livingstone will stay as mayor, but it is a close-run thing.

http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-13125048,00.html

[West Coast Democrat]

1. Isn't Sky News owned by Rupert Murdoch?

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. It is, but it's not very biased

It's nothing like Fox News. Since it broadcasts from the UK, there are laws requiring it to really be 'fair and balanced'. It's about the same as a US broadcast news station - it wouldn't want to worry big business, but it doesn't start off trying to push a political point of view.

[displacedtexan]

3. Does Blair even care that he might not have a majority...

as long as he gets to stay in office?

[Pab Sungenis]

4. Yes.

If your party has more seats, but not a majority, you need to form coalitions with other parties to achieve a majority. And doing that hampers your ability to get your agenda through without compromise.