LONDON, May 5 (UPI) -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair faced calls for his resignation Friday following a disastrous result for the government in local elections across England. Labor malcontents said his leadership was now destabilizing the party, which needed urgent renewal if it was to head off the growing threat from the Conservative opposition.
Labor suffered the loss of 319 council seats in Thursday's polls, losing control of 18 councils. The picture was particularly bleak in London, where the Conservatives took over from Labor as the majority party for the first time since 1978.
Meanwhile David Cameron passed his first electoral test since assuming the Conservative leadership in December with flying colors. The party stormed ahead with gains of 300 council seats, claiming the result was evidence of a sea change in the country's political mood.
It notably wrested control of the London borough of Ealing from Labor, widely seen as a "bellwether" seat for general election prospects. In every local election for the last 40 years, apart from 1986, Ealing has predicted the winner of the next general election.
In terms of the popular vote, Labor was relegated to third place with 26 percent, behind the Tories on 40 percent and the Liberal Democrats on 27 percent.
The humiliating outcome prompted a deluge of calls for Blair to quit, or at least name the date for his departure. Speculation about when Blair will stand down has been rampant since he announced last year he would not continue beyond the next general election in 2009.
Graham Stringer, Labor MP for Manchester Blackley, told the BBC that Labor needed regeneration if it was to fend off the Conservative Party, once again becoming a serious threat after a decade languishing in the political doldrums.
"It's not possible after nine years for the prime minister to regenerate himself," he added. "The only way to regenerate the party is with a new leader."
The uncertainty about the timing of Blair's departure meant he was now a "destabilizing influence" on the party, he added.
Even the normally tight-lipped Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, Blair's likely successor, appeared to hint a change of leadership was needed. Brown told BBC Radio that the results were a "warning shot" to the Labor Party, which needed "immediate renewal" if it was to deal with the challenges of the future. He would be discussing the way forward with the prime minister over the weekend, he said.
Blair is expected to ignore the calls, which have become a deeply divisive issue within the party. He will hope that his radical cabinet reshuffle Friday will be enough to reinvigorate his administration and satisfy disgruntled Labor parliamentarians and supporters.
In what was perhaps the most notable change, Charles Clarke was sacked from his post as home secretary and is to return to the parliamentary backbenches after refusing offers of other cabinet positions. He is to be replaced by former Defense Secretary John Reid, from whom Des Browne, previously chief secretary to the Treasury, takes over.
The opposition had been calling for Clarke's resignation since he admitted last week that over 1000 foreign prisoners eligible for deportation had been accidentally released, some of whom had since re-offended. Blair had only Wednesday told Parliament that Clarke was the best man to solve the crisis at the Home Office, leading to charges Friday of a disingenuous attempt to avoid a resignation ahead of the local polls.
Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott was stripped of his departmental responsibilities following last week's revelations of an affair with his diary secretary, but, controversially, is to retain his title, salary and privileges.
Among other changes, Jack Straw was removed from his post as foreign secretary and demoted to leader of the House of Commons. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will now be dealing with Margaret Beckett, previously environment secretary, who becomes the first woman to head the Foreign Office.
But many disgruntled Labor parliamentarians branded the reshuffle - the most extensive of Blair's career -- inadequate, saying it was the prime minister himself who needed to be shuffled out.
"The reshuffle is simply rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic," former Labor Health Secretary Frank Dobson said.
It is understood that the matter will be raised at a meeting Monday of the Parliamentary Labor Party, when supporters of Gordon Brown will call for Blair to hand over to their man as soon as possible.
John McDonnell, chair of the Labor Representation Committee, said his group would likely mount a leadership challenge later this year. "No number of reshuffles will address the crisis of confidence among our supporters in our leadership," he said.
There is mounting speculation that backbench parliamentarians may be preparing a petition for change to increase the pressure on the prime minister, while tensions between Blair and Brown are said to be sky-rocketing.
The reshuffled cabinet -- a largely Blairite line-up -- has been interpreted as a sign that Blair is in for the long haul, reportedly angering the Treasury.
Whether Blair can continue to shrug off calls for his resignation amid ongoing crises, scandals and internal rows, remains to be seen. Once dubbed Teflon Tony, the Labor leader is a remarkably resilient politician, but finally, it seems, the mud is starting to stick.
