Labour suffers election 'kicking'

There was little to cheer Labour

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott admits voters have given Labour a "kicking" in protest at the Iraq war.

With only a few local election results in England and Wales to come, Labour has lost 461 seats and eight councils, including Newcastle, Swansea and Leeds.

The Tories gained 259 seats and won Trafford and Tamworth. Charles Kennedy said Lib Dem gains proved the UK now really had three party politics.

But Labour was cheered by Ken Livingstone's election as London Mayor.

	Councillors		Councils
PARTY	+/-	TOT	+/-	TOT
CON	283	1714	13	51
LAB	-479	2250	-8	39
LD	137	1283	-2	9
PC	-28	172	-2	1
OTH	13	625	-1	66

Results in more detail

Turnout across England and Wales is running at 40%, up an average of 9% on last year - an increase not confined to the four regions piloting all-postal ballots.

In London Assembly elections there were falls for all three main parties - and relatively strong showings by George Galloway's Respect party (5%) and the UK Independence party (10%).

Tony Blair acknowledged Britain's role in the Iraq invasion had cast a "shadow" over the polls.

And Home Secretary David Blunkett told BBC Radio 4's Today: "I'm mortified that we're not doing better than we have done. We know it's been a bad night ... but not meltdown - no take off for the Conservatives."

Projections

Tony Blair's deputy John Prescott told BBC Radio 2's Jeremy Vine show the war in Iraq was a crucial factor, but he insisted the general election would be fought on the battleground of public services.

KEY TORY WINS: Brentwood Dudley Eastbourne Monmouthshire Peterborough Rossendale Swindon Tamworth Thurrock Trafford West Lindsey Worthing

"People like those policies," he said. "But they didn't judge this election on that. Iraq was a cloud, or indeed a shadow, over these elections.

"I am not saying we haven't had a kicking. It's not a great day for Labour."

The elections are the biggest test of voter opinion before the next general election but the final picture will not be clear until the European results appear on Sunday night.

So far about 161 out of the 166 councils holding elections have declared the results.

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%.

KEY LABOUR GAINS AND LOSSES: Lost - Newcastle Lost - Leeds Lost - Bassetlaw Lost - Burnley Lost - Cardiff Lost - St Helens Lost - Oxford Lost - Ipswich Lost - Swansea Lost - Hastings Lost - Doncaster Lost - Bridgend Lost - Slough Lost - Tamworth Lost - Thurrock Won - Stoke Won - Hartlepool Won - Rhondda Cynon Taf Won - Caerphilly Won - Redditch Won - Newcastle-under-Lyme Won - Merthyr

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.

It would give the Tories a result on a par with its local election results achieved under William Hague's leadership in 2000.

But the Tories point out that it looks like being their biggest lead over Labour since John Major won the 1992 election.

Labour has lost control of the former mining area of Bassetlaw for the first time since 1979, as well as suffering defeats in Burnley, Hastings, Oxford, Swansea, Doncaster and its traditional stronghold of St Helens.

It also lost Newcastle to the Liberal Democrats, ending 30 years of Labour control.

But the party won Stoke-on-Trent, tightened its grip on Barrow-in-Furness and, despite seat losses, held Manchester and Sheffield.

There was also a high-profile victory for Labour's Ken Livingstone in the race to be London Mayor, defeating the Tories' Steve Norris and the Lib Dems' Simon Hughes.

BBC political editor Andrew Marr predicted Mr Blair's critics on Labour's back benches would use the results to reopen discussion about his leadership of the party.

Small party gains?

The results offer the first electoral verdict on Michael Howard's leadership of the Conservatives.

"We had excellent results last night - we are now represented up and down the country in the cities where we want to play an important part," he said.

Tory co-chairman Liam Fox said they had won some "spectacular results".

KEY LIB DEM GAINS AND LOSSES: Gained - Newcastle Gained - Pendle Lost - Cheltenham Lost - Eastbourne Lost - Norwich Lost - Winchester

"I don't for a minute say that the result today would guarantee the Conservatives winning a general election, that would be absurd ... but it's good solid progress for us," he told Today.

The Lib Dems held Liverpool and won 10 seats in Manchester but dropped control of Eastbourne to the Tories, as well as losing Norwich and Cheltenham. They made a net gain of 129 seats.

Leader Charles Kennedy said: "This is a great result for the Liberal Democrats...

"We're continuing to not just hold, but to substantially advance our position, this is really three party politics in Britain and the media here really need to wake up to that fact."

Green shoots?

The Green Party will also be buoyed by keeping its seat in Manchester, as well as picking up four seats in Oxford, two in Norwich and one in Watford.

The UK Independence Party won a council seat in Hull and another in Derby.

MINOR PARTY GAINS AND LOSSES: Greens win seats in Norwich, Oxford and Watford and hold councillor in Manchester BNP take three seats from Labour in Epping Forest, gain four seats in Bradford, but fail to gain ground in Burnley UKIP win seat in Hull

The British National Party has taken three seats from Labour at Epping Forest, gained a foothold in Bradford with four seats, but failed to gain ground on Burnley Council, where it slipped into fourth place, losing one seat to the Conservatives but gaining one from Labour.

The final days of campaigning were marred in some areas piloting all-postal votes by allegations of fraud and voter intimidation, which are being investigated by the police and the Electoral Commission.

An independent councillor in Hull has said he intends to mount a legal challenge against his election result.

John Hemming, Lib Dems leader in Birmingham, said he wanted some 500 votes from a key ward put aside for further scrutiny because he was not satisfied with how they had arrived at the count.

The result from the key Birmingham battleground has been delayed by a series of recounts.