Blair faces tough election test

Just a day after an official report found his government waged war in Iraq on the basis of flawed intelligence, British Prime Minister Tony Blair faced another stiff test yesterday with a pair of crucial by-elections.

Continuing what has been dubbed Blair's toughest-ever week as premier, electors in the cities of Leicester and Birmingham go to the polls to choose new parliamentary representatives.

Polls opened at 7:00 am (0600 GMT) with many in Britain wondering how the country's decision to go to war in Iraq was based on dodgy intelligence and yet no one is apparently to blame.

Battered by controversy over the war, the popularity of Blair's Labour party has plummeted in recent months, culminating in July's disastrous showings at local and European polls.

Labour easily held the Leicester South and Birmingham Hodge Hill constituencies at the last general election in 2001, but the death of one MP and the retirement of another has left Blair facing a deeply unwelcome test of popularity.

To lose one -- or worse, both -- seats would prompt deep shiftings of unease within a Labour party increasingly worried that the once invulnerable Blair is now proving a turn-off for voters.

That in turn would ratchet up recent speculation that Blair's respected finance minister -- and arch-rival -- Gordon Brown could be considering an internal coup to oust the prime minister.