Disaster at the Polls for Blair AND Co.

[JCMach1]

WINNERS AND LOSERS
Here is the main list of council gains and losses:

Conservatives control 44 councils - up 12
Labour controls 37 councils - down 7
Lib Dems controls 8 councils - down 3

Other parties control 5 councils
Councils not controlled by any council 52

Here is a list of councils which have changed hands:

Conservatives gains
Brentwood (from no overall control)
Dudley (from no overall control)
Eastbourne (from Lib Dems)
Harrogate (from no overall control)
Monmouthshire (from no overall control)
Rossendale (from no overall control)
Swindon (from no overall control)
Tamworth (from Labour)
Thurrock (from Labour)
Trafford (from no overall control)
West Lindsay (from no overall control)
Worthing (from Lib Dems)...
http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1139145,00.html

THE LIVE LATEST RESULTS HAVE LABOUR DOWN OVER 400+ SEATS...

Tony is on his way out...!!!

[Spazito]

1. That is great news!

Now, will he do the honorable thing and step down and let someone else lead his party before the general election next year or will he stubbornly stay and decimate his party? Being the zealot he has turned out to be, I say he stays and says to hell with the party, only I count!

[JCMach1]

2. Wait until they announce the EU Parliament results tomorrow

Blair came out in support of the constitution (a flip-flop) just before the election...

There will be even bigger losses for Labour there.

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. They won't be announced until Monday

after all countries have voted (the Netherlands have controversially given out their exit poll results already, which some think is against the European election laws). Just in case you were on tenterhooks waiting for the results.

[JCMach1]

7. SKY was saying tomorrow, but I could be wrong....

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

4. "New Labour" is the DLC of the UK.

And are paying the price for their "moderation".

[TexasSissy]

5. So that's Spain AND Great Britain so far. Hope it's a trend

I hope it's a worldwide trend.

[scarletwoman]

8. Uh, Conservative party GAINS.

I don't think that's such a great result -- and it is certainly NOT like Spain where the leftists won.

[Spazito]

11. If Blair would step down and let someone else lead the party...

before the next general election, Labour may be re-elected, albeit, by a much smaller margin. If he continues to stubbornly stay, he will be the cause of the Conservatives winning if they do.

[scarletwoman]

16. I don't really get why voters would switch from Labour to Tory if it's

to show their displeasure with Blair over Iraq. Why not send a message by going to the Lib Dems?

Is it the EU thing moreso than the Iraq war that has the British voters unhappy with Labour?

What do the Tories offer in terms of domestic policy that would attract people out of the Labour camp?

sw

[Atlanticist]

19. I went with the Lib Dems entirely due to Iraq but....

Please don't equate British Conservatism with Bush/Cheney conservatism. I wouldn't spit on Bush if he was on fire - I despise him with a passion - however, British conservatism is actually pretty mild with some very decent politicians - Ken Clarke, Douglas Hurd, Chris Patten, Oliver Letwin, gentlemen all who have NOTHING in common with your crowd except the word conservative.

I live in the north of England (in a constituency with an 87 vote Tory majority last time, so my vote counts!!!). I voted Liberal Democrat yesterday because for me, politics starts and ends with Iraq. If in any way, I can send a message, even by voting Lib Dem, I'll use it.

On your second point, my view is it's almost entirely Iraq - a caller to the radio this morning who said they were dancing in the streets when Blair got into power felt she could never again vote Labour for as long as Blair led the party. She said she felt betrayed over Iraq, and like me, despises Bush. I think alot of the core Labour vote think this way, and either abstained (if they're a lazy git), or voted Lib Dem.

It's likely that next yr, I'll vote Tory. Labour has squandered a huge amount of resources to very little effect. However, none, and I repeat none of the UK parties can stand up to the absolute corruption, greed, ideology and downright fascism displayed by your unfortunate executive branch. But please don't equate Michael Howard (a very clever man who has an unfortunate history in the Thatcher government) with Chimp. Some of your more militant UK DU'ers may see the connection, but none can I see.

[Spazito]

20. I fully agree with you that the British conservatives do not equate with..

bush and his neocons. I think Thatcherism still taints the conservatives though just as Mulroney conservatism killed our Canadian Conservative party and we now have a more extremist right-wing party running.

My main point was for blair to do the honorable thing and step down and let Brown take over the party before the Labour party ends up like our Conservative party, dead in the water.

[scarletwoman]

21. Thank you for your thoughtful reply.

I must confess to near total ignorance of the British political scene, beyond a few surface impressions.

Were my energies not so totally engaged in fighting off the creeping fascism in my own country, I would spend more on educating myself about yours, beyond keeping alert for signs of Blair's downfall.

I do understand that your Conservatives are a completely different breed than what we have here -- lucky you! One thing that has seemed curious to me is that Blair, if not the Labour party in general, seems to have been a proponent of privitization. I'd like to know more about where all the British political parties stand on this issue.

Thank you again,
sw

[gpandas]

23. thanks for the on-site info n/t

[Arugula Latte]

6. Goddamn you, Tony Blair.

Look what you've squandered. For what? Hitching your wagon to a fucked-up, illegitimate moron of a "president."

[ibegurpard]

9. How will the wingnuts spin this?

No terror attacks in Britain to blame it on.

[AlCzervik]

10. I understand the revolt against the Labour party

but why are the lib dems losing ground? I thought they were against the invasion, no?

[JCMach1]

12. They gained seats however just not as many as the tories

the shift against the tories caused them to lose a few councils though...

[Yupster]

13. What are council seats?

this is not parliament right?

[JCMach1]

15. Local Gov...

remember, they don't have a Federal system... so no state Gov.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

14. I'd be happy if it was the Lib Dems gaining ground.

As it is, it's the proverbial Rock & Hard Place scenario.

[muriel_volestrangler]

17. With 162 of 166 results in,

    Councillors Councils   
PARTY  +/-  TOT  +/- TOT   
  CON  261 1621   12  50  
  LAB -463 2170   -8  39  
   LD  129 1232   -2   9  
   PC  -26  165   -2   1  
  OTH   20  593    0  63

(PC means Plaid Cymru, the Welsh national party. No local elections in Scotland this year)

On the basis of voting in 500 key wards the BBC is projecting an equivalent national vote for the parties of Tories 38%, Lib Dems 29% and Labour 26%.

If correct it would be the first time a party in government has finished third in terms of national share of the vote in local elections.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3796075.stm

So the Lib Dems did gain seats too, but overall they lost control of some councils.

[BillZBubb]

18. Labour deserves just as much blame as Blair

They supported the idiot when he hitched his wagon to Bush* instead of rising up in opposition.

There is now the real possibility of a Tory takeover next year which is wrong for Britain. Labour needs to dump Blair TODAY!

[Kellanved]

22. for the record:

Schröder and Chirac will get results at least as bad next sunday.
Even with the tide tuning in Germany, a respectable result for the German Democratic Left is very unlikely.
As to the French Gaullists - I hope for the French left to do well and for the French right (Chirac) to fail - sorry, but despite liking aspects of Chirac's foreign policy I can't stand his party and their domestic agenda.