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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: StanX Long who wrote (70169)	5/2/2003 1:32:39 AM
From: StanX Long	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

The Polls Told. :0) British PM survives local, regional polls despite some Labour losses sg.news.yahoo.com Friday May 2, 11:54 AM British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his ruling Labour party appear to have survived their first electoral test following the war on Iraq, but not without some losses, early results in local and regional polls showed. The party's main electoral reverse from Thursday's voting was the loss of control of the local council in Birmingham, Britain's second city, a result seen as a protest against the Iraq war. Throughout Britain, the main opposition Conservatives enjoyed modest gains while the country's third party, the Liberal Democrats, looked set to record its best ever showing in local polls. The far-right British National Party (BNP) more than doubled its number of seats on local councils to 11 and became the second main party on the council of Burnley -- a town in nothwestern England where white and south Asian communities are virtually segregated. The English, Scots and Welsh cast ballots Thursday in local and regional elections seen as a mid-term test of the popularity of Blair and Labour. More than 30 million people were eligible to cast ballots for almost 12,000 seats on 340 local councils across England and Scotland. Voters in Scotland and Wales also elected members to their regional parliaments, founded in 1999 under a policy of devolution, two years after Labour swept to power in a landslide general election victory. Early results from 250 English councils showed Labour had lost control of 31 councils and gained four, leaving it in control of 50. In the majority of councils no single party emerged with overall control. In terms of seats, Labour gained 73 but lost 700, a net loss of 627. Political analysts had said that a net loss of 600 seats would be a poor but survivable result for Blair. The Conservatives were said to have won around 34 percent of total votes cast, with Labour and the Liberal Democrats each on 30 percent, according to the BBC. Labour lost Birmingham City Council to no-overall-control after 19 years in power. Mohammad Naseem, the chairman of Birmingham Central Mosque, said he believed Labour's loss was largely due to a rebellion by a broad cross-section of voters opposed to the conflicts in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Many of the Birmingham seats lost by Labour were in areas with a high percentage of Muslim residents, traditionally regarded as loyal to the party. Asked by reporters if anger at Labour amongst worshippers at the central mosque was widespread, Naseem said: "Up to the last man they were against the Labour Party policies." At least one million people turned out in London in mid-February in protest at Blair's handling of the Iraq crisis, although opposition became fainter as more and more British troops started deploying in the Gulf. The BNP became the second largest party behind Labour on Burnley Borough Council after winning seven new seats. The results mean the town, rocked two years ago by three days of racially aggravated violence and unrest, will have eight far-right councillors for the coming year. Thurday's polls also saw the BNP gain two seats in Sandwell and one in Stoke-on-Trent, two towns in central England. In a potentially damaging blow to Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith, a senior member of parliament quit the party and warned that it would never return to power without a change of leadership. "Whatever the headline results in today's local elections the fact is the Conservative Party is making no real progress," Crispin Blunt said Thursday -- his resignation announcement clearly timed to cause maximum damage. Blunt, a spokesman for the party on Trade and Industry added: "If we are a political party that is serious about regaining power, our leader has to now be replaced." Campaigning for Thursday's elections was low-key, with the major political parties focusing on education, health care and other neighborhood issues. Blair and his "New Labour" team, first elected in 1997, won a second term in 2001 with a thumping majority in the House of Commons. Britain's next general election is due by mid-2006 at the latest.