Posted on 05/22/2008 9:37:02 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
LONDON - Britain's Conservative Party won a special election that was viewed as a barometer of Labour Party leader Gordon Brown's popularity, according to vote results Friday.
Tory candidate Edward Timpson handily defeated his left-wing competitor Tamsin Dunwoody to take the parliamentary seat of Crewe and Nantwich in northwestern England, beating her 20,539 votes to 12,679.
The loss in a Labour stronghold could help to erode Brown's authority and embolden his critics within the party. The party had held the district since 1983.
Brown is struggling to recover from devastating Labour Party setbacks in local elections earlier this month and from nationwide polls showing grave doubts about his leadership since taking over last summer after Tony Blair stepped down.
It was to Brown that Timpson directed his ire as he addressed voters after his victory was announced.
"Above all, you have sent a message, that Gordon Brown just does not get it, and government needs to change," Timpson said as supporters applauded.
The special election was called after the death of longtime Labour Party legislator Gwyneth Dunwoody, Tamsin's mother.
Brown, who served as Treasury chief under Blair for a decade, must call a general election by mid-2010 and faces increased grumbling in Labour Party ranks about the party's fading prospects of staying in power.
Labour minister Hazel Blears told the British Broadcasting Corp. that voters had "decided to send us a pretty powerful message but the last thing they want is the Labour Party to turn on itself and be obsessed with our own affairs and not what the public want".
The victory, the first by Conservatives in a special election against Labour in more than three decades, represents a vindication for Tory leader David Cameron, who only last year was facing rumbles of discontent from within his own party.
Cameron campaigned aggressively on behalf of Timpson, but Brown kept clear of Dunwoody, whose mother was a popular Labour legislator and held the seat for 25 years until her death.
Another special election is expected in a few months in Henley, where Conservative legislator Boris Johnson is expected to step down after becoming London mayor in a victory over two-term incumbent Ken Livingstone, a Labour politician.
Conservatism is all around us, and yet, it escapes our presidential election.
I hope they do :)
It’s amazing that come 2009, the US could have have the most left wing of govt of any of the G7 countries.
For all the talk of how Bush has alienated our allies, all of our allies have elected more pro-american govts, and more right of center govts recently to replace left wing givts.
Canada has a conservative govt with Harper and they’re poised to win again
France went from Chirac to Sarkozy
Germany from Schroeder to Merkel
Italy brought Berlusconi back
Japan’s Abe or Fukuoda or whoever’s there now leads a right wing govt
South Korea’s new President is more towards the right and replaced Roh who was more towards the left
In the UK, the Tories are poised to win the next election and have picked up seats in recent ones.
In Israel, Olmert is floundering and Bibi is the favorite to be the next PM.
If you include Russia in the G8, Obama may even be to the left of Medvedev.
But you never hear the media talk about all theses pro-US, right wing leaders and govts winning elections. They all think the rest of th world hates us.
well,, it’s nice to know that Americans will have options when the states is just another EUropean Socialist enclave.
Many of us can return to our roots and live in countries that get it more and more every day, that the more conservative a country goes, the more prosperous it becomes as well, heck , we been exporting ‘it’ for years,, too bad we won’t have kept some of it for US too.
It's here. It's just not on display in this election, and will take some work to get it back on display.
Pardon me for my cynicism. Of course, you are right.
For all our faults and flaws, we are still a beacon to the world.
Let’s just hope what goes around, comes around. ;-)
Nope. Sorry. No pardon for you, Mr. Cynic.
:-)
I know how hard it is to be optimistic at a time like this, but I know Americans still think this is a great country.
darn, double darn. ;-)
Thank you for loving America, NR. We appreciate it more than you know.
Hate to put a dampener on your hopes but the Conservatives under Cameron have been nicknamed ‘Blue Labour’ and ‘Socialiservatives’ ( FR rules on obscenities stop me from posting others).
Yes it is a good signal that this Govt may be on the way out but I should warn you that the Tories do have a significant element of Ant-American, pro EU, multicultural, I-Secretly-Despise-My-Country among their ranks .
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