Brown suffers blow in local polls
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown admitted Friday that his party had suffered a "bad" blow in key local elections, as forecasts predicted the worst results for Labour since the 1960s.
As results poured in, Labour -- with Brown leading them into elections for the first time since taking office last year -- was set to finish in third place behind the opposition Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, the BBC said.
The ruling party could face further humiliation in the London mayoral race, which pitched the current mayor, Labour's Ken Livingstone, against the Conservatives' maverick Boris Johnson.
"It's clear to me that this has been a disappointing night, indeed a bad night for Labour," Brown told reporters.
"We have lessons to learn from that and then we will move forward."
Linking his party's performance to the effects of the global credit crunch in Britain, he added: "The real test of leadership is not what happens in a period of success but what happens in difficult circumstances."
Amid speculation Livingstone would be voted out as part of the backlash against the government, Brown added that he had spoken to Livingstone last night and thanked him "for the campaign he has run and the message he has put across."
The Conservatives have 44 percent of the vote, the Liberal Democrats 25 percent and Labour 24 percent, according to BBC projections, which added that this result would be its worst in local polls since the late 1960s.
With results from 100 out of 159 local councils officially announced, the Conservatives had won 45 local councils, Labour 14 and the Liberal Democrats six. The remainder were not controlled by any single party.
Labour lost six councils and 162 councillors and the Conservatives gained eight councils and 147 councillors.
Senior government figures blamed on the global economic downturn and insisted Brown -- who succeeded Tony Blair in Downing Street last June -- was still the best man for the job.
Harriet Harman, Labour's deputy leader, told BBC television: "We all think these are disappointing results and we recognise the economic context with people feeling the pinch...
"But we are determined to listen and confident to take the country forward.”
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