Tough task for Blair successor after British polls

ABERDEEN, Scotland, May 4 (Reuters) Prime Minister Tony Blair bequeathed his successor a tough task in reviving support for the ruling Labour Party today after it suffered losses in regional elections across Britain.

Blair is set to announce next week he will leave his job by July and his presumed heir, finance minister Gordon Brown, risks taking office with the parliament in his native Scotland controlled by a party that wants independence from London.

Yesterday's polls for local councils, the Scottish parliament and Welsh assembly were the last chance for 39 million voters to give a verdict on Blair's decade in power.

Blair said the results were far from a rout and gave a ''perfectly good springboard'' for the next general election.

''You always take a hit in the mid term,'' he told BBC television. ''We came from worse results a few years ago and won an election. And we're going to do it again.'' The prime minister's popularity has slumped over the Iraq war and a series of political scandals. Brown, 56, is clear favourite to take over as Labour leader and prime minister, and was endorsed by Blair last week.

Brown could rule until May 2010 without holding an election but doubts remain over whether he can rein in the opposition Conservative Party before the next parliamentary poll.

A BBC projection showed the Conservatives had taken 41 per cent of the national vote, a threshold deemed necessary to win power at a general election. But mid-term elections are not necessarily a reliable indicator of national results.

Labour had braced itself for a drubbing in the elections and its share of the vote was projected at just 27 per cent. Blair's government slumped to a record low of 26 per cent in 2004 polls but still won a parliamentary election the following year.

SCOTLAND ON KNIFE EDGE Blair has been Labour's most successful leader, winning three parliamentary elections in a row. But polls suggest voters have lost trust in him since he took Britain into the Iraq war.

The Conservatives under new leader David Cameron have stretched ahead of Labour in opinion polls and they jumped on the results as a sign that power was in reach.

''A breakthrough in the north of England, a breakthrough in places like Wales where we've made real progress and, of course, across the rest of England where we've done incredibly well,'' said George Osborne, Conservative economic spokesman.

''We're in a position now where we can win a general election.'' With results in from 190 of the 312 English councils up for grabs, the Conservatives gained 22 and Labour lost six.

With results likely to dribble in throughout today it was too early to call the Scottish parliament vote but there were clear signs of a swing to the Scottish National Party (SNP).

After 94 of the 129 seats decided Labour had 37 and the SNP 34.

Opinion polls had suggested the SNP could oust Labour as the biggest party in the regional parliament.

SNP leader Alex Salmond has pledged to hold a referendum on Scottish independence in 2010 if his party wins control.

The Scottish vote was marred by hitches. Voters complained that tens of thousands of votes had been rejected because people were confused by complex ballot papers. Counting in some major constituencies was delayed by computer scanning glitches.

Labour also lost seats in Wales, where there is also a devolved assembly, but remained the largest party.

But some analysts say Brown has what it takes. They think he will promote a new generation of young cabinet members, woo back traditional Labour voters -- and bring troops home from Iraq.

''There is going to be a certain amount of relief and interest that Tony Blair has finally disappeared,'' Patrick Dunleavy, politics professor at the London School of Economics.

''What people forget about Gordon Brown is that he's actually very good at elections.'' Reuters KK GC1900