HELLFIRE AND DAMNATION - Blair set to win with another landslide

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I honestly didn't believe a majority in Britain were stupid. They are.

Friday, 8 June 2001 Blair set for another landslide

By George Jones, Political Editor

TONY BLAIR is heading back to Downing Street Street after exit polls showed Labour on course for another stunning landslide majority. He was set to enter the history books as the first Labour prime minister to achieve two successive full terms in power.

An ITN exit poll by Mori showed the party on course for a majority of 175, only a handful short of the record majority of 179 Mr Blair achieved four years ago. A BBC/NOP poll suggested a majority of 157.

Across the country, the turnout was sharply down on 1997. Early indications showed that it could be the lowest since 1918 and the lowest in normal peacetime circumstances since the end of the 19th century.

If the poll predictions are borne out, Mr Blair will earn his place as the most successful leader in Labour's 100-year history.

Alastair Campbell, hisofficial spokesman, said: "It's excellent news. It shows we have fought a positive campaign and people have been willing to endorse our record."

John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, said: "We've done a good job so far. But there's still a lot more to do and if we've convinced the electorate to give us a chance we would be delighted to get on with it."

For the Tories, the scale of the defeat is certain to lead to pressure on William Hague to quit or carry out a major shift in policy back towards the centre ground.

But Michael Portillo, the shadow chancellor, and Lord Tebbit, the former party chairman, urged him to stay on and prevent the party being plunged into an immediate leadership crisis.

The first constituency to declare, Sunderland South, suggested that the Tories could have benefited to some extent from the low turnout.

The second result was Hamilton South, near Glasgow. Labour held the seat comfortably despite a small swing to the Scottish National Party. There the turnout was down 14 per cent on 1997. The ITN poll predicted that the Tories would end up with 154 MPs, 11 fewer than in 1997, their worst performance for 150 years. It forecast that the Liberal Democrats would increase their tally from 47 to 58. The BBC survey suggested only a half a per cent swing to the Tories, with Labour gaining 408 MPs, down 10; the Tories 177, up 12; and the Liberal Democrats 44. The BBC poll asked 18,000 voters to fill in duplicate ballot papers after they had already voted in person. ITN surveyed 13,500 voters. A victory on such a scale will be an unprecedented achievement and ensure that Mr Blair has eclipsed Margaret Thatcher, who gained a 144 majority at the start of her second term in 1983.

It will be a humiliating blow for the Tories. It will show that the party has made little headway over the past four years and could be in the wilderness for another 10.

It will also mean that Mr Blair will be returned with a mandate to implement radical reform of the public services and start a campaign to join the euro within two years.

Since Mr Blair became the youngest prime minister since 1812 and ended 18 years of Conservative rule, his overriding ambition has been to achieve a second term and demonstrate that Labour has become a party trusted to run the economy and provide stability.

Later today he will act swiftly to consolidate his victory by carrying out an immediate Cabinet reshuffle. He sought to show that it would be "business as usual" with a low-key party at Millbank headquarters before returning to No 10 to reshape his Government.

Lance Prince, Labour's director of communications, said it was a "million miles" away from the huge show of triumphalism that greeted Mr Blair four years ago when a glitzy celebration was held at the Festival Hall.

Mr Blair wants to emphasise the theme of his campaign, "The work goes on", by carrying out a quick reshuffle which will focus on reform of the public services - a central issue during the election.

His aides said he would "hit the ground running" with the reshuffle and a shake-up of government aimed at increasing the pace of change in schools, hospitals, the police service and transport system.

Mr Hague signalled that he would fight attempts to remove him as leader or force him to change policy.

Close aides said he would reject demands for the sacking of his kitchen cabinet and the ditching of hard-line policies, including his opposition to scrapping the pound.

Mr Hague's critics are demanding the removal of his "closed door set" - particularly his chief of staff, Lord (Seb) Coe, Amanda Platell, his communications director, and campaign strategists Tim Collins and Andrew Lansley - as the price of not forcing a vote of "no confidence" in his leadership.

The inner group has been blamed for the decision to shore up the Tories' core vote by concentrating on Europe, tax, crime and asylum, allowing Labour and the Liberal Democrats to portray the party as Right-wing and driving away "one nation" Tories.

One of Mr Hague's close associates said last night: "He has no intention of striking any deals with anyone over personnel or policy." Michael Ancram, the Tory Party chairman, said he was "very proud" of the way the party had performed during the election fray, despite pessimism by the media.

"We have campaigned on those things that we believe people were interested in and mattered in this country."

Charles Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat leader, said the exit polls had to be treated with a "very healthy dose of caution".

He said it was "early days yet". If the Liberal Democrats managed to match the number of seats they won in 1997 it would be seen as a remarkable achievement.

The Commons will reassemble on June 20 for the Queen's Speech unveiling the programme for an extended parliamentary session which is expected to run until autumn next year.

The priorities will be reforming secondary shools and the criminal justice system.

But even before the result, there was a warning from Labour's Left that the Prime Minister would face opposition if he sought to use another big majority to force through changes such as more privatisation of public services.

-- Anonymous, June 07, 2001

Answers

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/159/world/Blair_savors_victory_as_Hagu e_:.shtml

Blair savors victory as Hague tastes bitter defeat

By Beth Gardiner, Associated Press, 6/8/2001 04:55

LONDON (AP) For a man perched atop an electoral landslide, Prime Minister Tony Blair kept remarkably cool Friday.

He beamed as supporters cheered and then kissed his wife, Cherie, at the counting hall in his home constituency in Sedgefield, northeastern England. But his restrained tone through the night of vote-tallying seemed oddly out-of-sync with the enormous scale of the Labor Party victory.

''Four years ago we were elected as a government amid some euphoria after 18 years of a Conservative government,'' he said. ''Tonight we have been re-elected ... The judgment may be a more sober one, and the mood is different, but I believe it is a more reasoned one as well, because it is based on a record in office.''

His serious demeanor was more suited to the weathered, slightly bruised head of government he is now than the triumphant opposition leader he was four years ago.

Even more battered was Conservative Party leader William Hague, who announced his resignation as party chief after the landslide was clear.

He huddled through the night with his wife Ffion, adviser Sebastian Coe the one-time Olympian and a handful of relatives at home in Yorkshire.

A few hours later, Hague told reporters gathered at party headquarters that he had decided to step down.

''I believe it's vital that the party be given the chance to choose a leader who can build on my work, but also take new initiatives and hopefully command a larger personal following in the country,'' Hague said.

Those who knew him predicted Hague would rebound, but in the end it appeared that too many felt he had led the party astray.

''It's time to change out strategy. The one we had during the election campaign was wrong,'' Tory lawmaker Ian Taylor told the British Broadcasting Corp.

''It's quite clear that we cannot stay where we are in British politics, because it is quite clear that there we would perish,'' Taylor said.

-- Anonymous, June 08, 2001


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