Labour is toast. They have been wiped off the county council map and so far (with many wards still to declare) it has lost 200 of the 450 council seats it was defending.
In Bristol, the minority Labour administration was kicked out earlier, and the city now obtained a Liberal-Democrat majority, with Labour holding on only to two of the ten seats it was defending in this round. The fortresses of Nottinghamshire, Lancashire and Staffordshire have fallen. With 11 wards to declare at the time of writing, the Tories needed only one win to secure a majority on the county council. In Cumbria, usually very Labourite, the Conservatives are the largest party in the council without holding an outright majority.
The Tories also snatched Devon and Somerset from the Liberal Democrats.
Combined with the wave of resignations by junior and senior ministers, Brown's position is rocky indeed. When even the Guardian says there's a problem with Labour and it's time to cut Gordon loose, you know things are bad. The Times also had a series of scathing comments, including "Vote Labour, vote mayhem". Although I cannot retrieve the article, The Sun strongly endorsed the Tories in this round of local and European elections as well.
On Monday the Labour Party caucus will meet after taking the European ballot drubbing. If Gordon Brown is Prime Minister on Tuesday, we will have to conclude that either he is the most tenacious political survivor or the party he leads is spinelessly accepting its fate and delaying the inevitable wipeout. This wouldn't be a problem if a leader with a vision was at the helm. Instead, Britain has a discredited Prime Minister who can't even keep his Cabinet in order. Not good.
1 comment:
It was great to see you and Tim again. I hope Brown stays. It will make the eventual Tory landslide ever bigger.
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