Britons vote in Blair's first post-Iraq test

Millions of Britons voted yesterday in local elections offering the first test of Prime Minister Tony Blair's popularity since he angered many members of his Labour Party by going to war in Iraq.

About 30 million people were eligible to vote in the polls, which fell on the sixth anniversary of parliamentary elections which swept Blair's Labour Party to power in 1997.

After US and British troops stormed to a swift victory in Baghdad, Blair has promised to switch his attention to meeting a pledge to overhaul Britain's struggling public services.

Labour officials insist local elections - for parliaments in Scotland and Wales and over 10,000 local government seats in England - are dominated by local issues.

But Blair's hawkish stance on Iraq, which led to a rebellion in parliament on the eve of war, could still have an impact.

"I'm not voting for Tony Blair because of the war. I marched against it and I've never marched in my life before," said a 57-year-old local authority worker in Edinburgh and former Labour voter. "He did not have my support."

"It could be a three-legged donkey, I don't care who it is, I'll just never vote Labour again," she said.

In England, the fact that Labour has not fielded candidates in almost a third of council seats up for grabs suggests some disillusionment among its rank-and-file.

In Scotland and Wales, Blair faces tough competition from nationalist parties the SNP and Plaid Cymru - both of which were fervently opposed to the Iraq campaign and are looking to attract disaffected Blair supporters.

Labour is expected to remain the largest party in both devolved parliaments, though needing coalition support from other groups.

And despite Labour unease over the military action, Blair has enjoyed a "Baghdad Bounce" in polls since US and British troops quickly felled Saddam Hussein.

His Conservative opponents must pick up hundreds of council seats in England to show any sign of recovery after two successive general election drubbings.

Also in England, the anti-immigrant British National Party fielded record numbers of candidates in the northeast and south.

The BNP boasts a mere five of the 20,000 or so council seats in Britain and commands negligible national support. But its campaign against immigration and asylum seekers have won it a high profile.

The fate of Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith could hinge on the results. A year and a half since taking over his party he has failed to dent Blair's strong ratings.

The Conservatives say a net gain of 30 local council seats, out of the roughly 10,400 in play, would be a success. Labour say they need to win up to 1,000. Political analysts say a gain of 400 seats would suggest Conservatives were on the mend.