Blair copped a bashing in local polls, losing one seat to the anti-war Liberal Democrats and narrowly holding another supposed safe Labour seat. Voters said Iraq and government lies were a big issue. The Scotsman reports that "Labour's winner at Birmingham Hodge Hill was faced with jeers and shouts of 'warmonger' as he spoke after the declaration. "

Unfortunately, perhaps, the opposition Conservatives did even worse than Labour. This will give Labour hope that they can still win the next election, even under Blair, and may give the PM further incentive to defy calls for his resignation. Another gaping hole in the fabric of our much-vaunted Western Democracy?