Blair seeks to calm party after poll rout

By Madeline Chambers

Tony Blair will try to convince worried Labour Party members he is the best man to lead them into the next election after suffering historic losses in European and local polls.

Voters punished Blair for waging war in Iraq and vented their anti-European sentiment, pushing Labour to its lowest level in a nationwide election since World War One in the European poll.

"It was a disappointing vote for us, there’s no question about that," Labour Health Secretary John Reid told BBC radio on Monday.

With most of the votes counted, Labour had won just 23 percent of the popular vote compared with the Conservatives’ 27 percent.

The biggest winner was the anti-European Union UK Independence Party, which came third with almost 17 percent, highlighting how tough it will be for Blair to win the referendum he has pledged on a new Constitution for an enlarged bloc.

The results followed a drubbing in local government elections in which Labour’s share of the vote slid to third place, an unprecedented reverse for a governing party.

In what is likely to be a tense meeting of Labour parliamentarians later on Monday, Blair will try to calm those worried about losing their seats in the next election, expected next year. Blair does not usually attend the weekly meetings.

With some angry Labour members demanding he stand aside, Blair has called on his followers to hold their nerve.

"This won’t make the prime minister’s life any easier and I think we will see in the next six weeks a big effort to show Labour has got new ideas," said political analyst Tony Travers of the London School of Economics.

Blair, like U.S. ally President George W. Bush facing a public backlash in the violent aftermath of the Iraq war, will seek to regain momentum by focusing on domestic issues.

He will outline long-term spending plans and policies for education, health and home affairs in what would be an unprecedented Labour third term.

He is due to hold a monthly press conference on Tuesday.

FRAGMENTED OPPOSITION

A 161-seat majority in the House of Commons, however, means tens of Labour lawmakers would have to lose their seats for the party to be ousted in the next election.

And Labour argues that governments across Europe were hurt by protest votes and British mid-term elections are traditionally used to kick the government of the day.

In 1999, when the European elections were last held, the Conservatives soundly beat Labour, but two years later Blair won the 2001 general election in a landslide.

In addition, the Conservatives have failed to capitalise on the government’s troubles as many turned to the UK Independence Party which advocates withdrawal from the EU.

"It could have been worse for Labour — the votes it lost were fragmented which is worrying for the Conservatives," said Travers.

With results for 68 of Britain’s 78 seats in the European Parliament declared, the UK Independence Party (UKIP) had snatched 12 with the Conservatives on 25 and Labour 17.

"We were the only party...that had a very clear, straightforward policy...we said we can withdraw from Europe," UKIP successful candidate Robert Kilroy-Silk told BBC Radio.

The Conservatives pledged to explain their position better.

"We are going to have to make sure that people understand that we do want to try and reform Europe," said Michael Ancram, Conservative foreign affairs spokesman.

But in the long term, UKIP could spell trouble for Blair. He has pledged to offer Britons a referendum on an EU constitution, likely to be signed at a heads of government summit later this week. UKIP’s performance shows just how hard it will be for him to win that vote. LONDON (Reuters)