Iraq hit Blair hard
[EC: Brits have taken to calling Blair BLIAR which isn't any better than what they used to call him, Bush's Poodle. At any rate, both are accurate]
Analysis
By Nick Assinder
Political Correspondent, BBC News website
It is probably fair to say that, as far as Labour is concerned, it was Iraq wot did it.
The issue of the war and the prime minister's honesty hung over the entire campaign and clearly played a significant part in Labour's losses.
It was not the only issue responsible for the reduction in the vote, but there is plenty of evidence to suggest that, for many, it was decisive.
The most obvious example was in the bitter battle in Bethnal Green where leader of the anti-war Respect party, George Galloway, ousted sitting Labour MP Oona King.
That will have come as a surprise to the prime minister, even though he must have known Mr Galloway - previously thrown out of the Labour party for his attacks on the prime minister over Iraq - was set to give Ms King a run for her money.
Name calling
And the local campaign was entirely dominated by the war and its consequences. The fact that Ms King had backed the prime minister did nothing to help her.
Then there was Tory leader Michael Howard's decision to use Iraq throughout the campaign as an example of why he believed the prime minister was a liar.
It may have added a new precedent in campaign name calling and may even have backfired to some extent on the Tories. But it undoubtedly contributed to a wider feeling against Mr Blair.
Charles Kennedy's Liberal Democrats stopped short of using the word "liar" but they used the last week or so of their campaign concentrating on the war and the prime minister's judgement.
As the only big party to have consistently opposed the conflict, it is certain the Lib Dems' made advances partly, maybe even largely, as a result.
Given up
It is also notable that the Lib Dems attempts to "decapitate" the Tory party failed and they did not win most of the target seats they had hope to snatch from the opposition.
Most of their gains came at the expense of Labour, adding to the evidence the anti-war vote was going to them.
It was also the case that the party's gains came in the south east, where the war was a bigger issue than in the rest of the country.
Finally, towards the end of the campaign, the prime minister appeared to have given up trying to defend himself over the issue, simply urging voters to respect his judgement.
But he also openly accepted that the war was going to be an election issue.
And he was right. He now hopes that, having registered their protest, voters will finally draw a line under the issue. |
