UK's Blair to resign next July

[Coexist]

By Peter Graff

LONDON (Reuters) - Tony Blair will leave office on July 26, the Sun newspaper reported in its Wednesday edition, as the increasingly unpopular prime minister faced growing pressure to quit from within his own Labor Party.

The report comes a day after a top Blair ally said the prime minister would probably leave office within a year.

The Sun said Blair would step down as head of the Labor Party on May 31, less than a month after his tenth anniversary in office. He would resign as prime minister eight weeks later, after an election to choose a successor as party leader, expected to be his finance minister, Gordon Brown.


Blair, winner of a record three consecutive elections for Labor, has already said he will not stand for a fourth term.

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[savemefromdumbya]

1. he should resign now well before the local elections

[Coexist]

5. when are the local elections? n/t

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. 3rd of May

as well as local council elections, they're for the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly, both currently controlled by Labour, but under threat.

[Coexist]

10. who is poised to take power?

what are their leanings?

[muriel_volestrangler]

11. Difficult to say

Since there's a form of proportional representation. In the Welsh Assembly, Labour is the largest party, and will remain so - but at the moment, they are so close to a majority (29 out of 60 seats) that they govern without forming a coalition. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Assembly_for_Wales#Composition_of_the_Assembly

It's notable that Labour lost what had been a rock-solid Labour seat to an Independent - an 'Old Labour' MP who had retired - and it remained 'lost' to his widow, when he died. Wales is very traditional Labour - and they resent Blair's style imensely. Labour will probably have to make a coalition with someone - the Lib Dems would be most likely, if they're big enough to create an overall majority.

Meanwhile in Scotland, Labour is in a coalition with the Liberal Democrats. The second largest party is the Scottish Nationalists; their main policy is full independence from the UK, but in other areas, they're not as right wing as Blair. They (and their Welsh equivalents) have been leading the attempt to get Blair impeached over the Iraq war, for instance. While the latest poll shows them still behind Labour, the quote from the Labour leader in Scotland is notable:

In remarks which will be seen as distancing himself from the Prime Minister, Mr McConnell said: "The election should not be about - and no-one wants it to be about - the job of Tony Blair, the mortgage of Tony Blair or the future of any individual UK politician. This election has to be about the future of Scotland."

At the moment, a Labour/Lib Dem caolition still looks most likely here, but the polls seem very volatile. The Scottish Socialist Party is undergoing a messy breakup, which has lessened the chances of their forming a coalition of the nationalist parties with the SNP.

[savemefromdumbya]

8. May, usually

if he resigns now at least we could get someone in place

[Jacobin]

2. Another IraqNam casualty

:thumbsup:

[boolean]

3. WOW. And another thing bush touches goes to shit!

Really. Has bush ever had a success? Ever? I bet Blair is kicking himself for trusting the chimp now.

[Coexist]

4. I am so very happy about this. n/t

[Cha]

6. Yuck! Another year of

toady blur.

[CJCRANE]

9. Hopefully sooner.