BLAIR'S DEMISE: Labour polling reveals Blair is election liability
socialist
Brent East and now the third party in British politics. When will McLAbour realise that Bliar is a liability? The British electorate simply cannot elect the deluded, lying little shit and the Labour party are having a kicking for the contempt shown by McLabour.
Let's show them at the Labour Party conference at Brighton 26-30 September 2004.
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=521759
Labour polling reveals Blair is election liability
By Andy McSmith and Francis Elliott
16 May 2004
Tony Blair has been warned by his party that his unpopularity is
dragging Labour down, for the first time in his 10-year leadership.
Staff at Labour's London headquarters have collated a summary of
canvass returns from around the country, which reveal a "clear
difference" between those who are prepared to vote Labour in next
month's local elections, and those who say they will come back to
Labour only when Mr Blair has ceased to be leader.
A senior party member who has seen the canvass returns told The
Independent on Sunday: "The figures are awful. If there were a general
election tomorrow, they suggest Blair could cost us at least 60 seats."
The growth of a negative "Blair factor" has added to speculation in
Westminster that the Prime Minister may be on the point of handing
over to his long-time friend and rival, Gordon Brown.
One former minister who has known both men well for nearly 20 years
said: "Only two or possibly three people actually know the answer -
that is Tony, Gordon and Cherie. But when I spoke to Gordon the other
day, he did not look like a man who is expecting to wait another
three years for the job he has always wanted."
Unusually, these rumours have been publicly aired by the Deputy
Prime Minister, John Prescott, who told The Times that people are
"positioning themselves" for a seismic change in the political
landscape. He added in a statement yesterday: "Of course there has
been speculation over the leadership, but the reality is there's no
race for the Prime Minister's position."
Others who work closely with the Prime Minister acknowledge that
the Iraq war is likely to have a severe impact on the Labour vote
in the local council and European Parliament elections on 10 June,
but they are adamant that he intends to continue in office.
Pressure on Mr Blair increased last night as a poll revealed that 46
per cent of people said he should step down before the next election
while a survey of Labour constituency chairmen found a fifth believed
he should go.
However, a Downing Street spokesman said: "The Prime Minister is fully
focused and firmly gripping the Iraq issue. He believes the key to
sorting out Iraq is security, and the key to sorting out security is
'Iraqisation' - giving the Iraqis responsibility for resolving their
own problems."
But even his most loyal allies are beginning to contemplate what to
do if he does resign, and are showing a reluctance to let Mr Brown
walk into the job without a challenge from a cabinet rival such as
the Health Secretary, John Reid, or the Education Secretary, Charles
Clarke. One leading Blairite said: "Were the worst to happen, which
I don't think it will, the history of the Labour Party suggests that
there would be a contest. I don't think the likes of Charles and John
would take it lying down."
There are the beginnings of a Stop Brown campaign gathering in the
lower ranks of government, led by ministers in highly marginal seats
once held by Tories, who believe they owe their careers to Tony
Blair's political skill.
Stephen Ladyman, a junior minister in the Department of Health who
is nursing a majority of just 1,792 in South Thanet, says he will
lose his seat if Mr Brown takes over.
He said: "Now is not the time to change horses. People in the
South-east understand and trust Tony. Anyone else would not have as
much in common with English voters."
Gareth Thomas, Harrow West (majority 6,156), agreed that the Prime
Minister had "particular appeal in the South". He said: "Tony Blair was
crucial in helping me win my seat in 1997 and in retaining it in 2001."
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