Home > European leaders firm in face of vote drubbings
The leaders of Britain, France and Germany have suffered humiliating defeats in the European elections but each has pledged to stand firm and push ahead with their policies.
From Prague to London, parties opposed to the European Union integration process made considerable gains in the first EU-wide polls since the bloc’s historic expansion to take in states once behind the Iron Curtain.
Voters in Britain punished Prime Minister Tony Blair for waging war in Iraq and vented their anti-European sentiment, pushing Labour to its lowest level in a nation-wide election since World War I.
However, Mr Blair has urged worried Labour Party members to hold their nerve in the run-up to the next general election, after suffering historic losses in both the European election and local polls.
A party spokesman said Mr Blair told a meeting of Labour MPs: "We’ve got to have confidence in our arguments, hold our nerve and believe we will win, not just because of the campaign we will fight but because of our policies."
Many Labour MPs fear they will lose their seats in the next general election, which is expected next year, and some have called on Mr Blair to stand down as they worry Iraq has made him a liability.
Labour won just 23 per cent of the vote in the European ballot, compared to 27 per cent for the opposition Conservatives.
The biggest winner was the UK Independence Party (UKIP) which came third with 16 per cent of the vote. The party advocates withdrawal from the European Union.
Analysts said its success underlined the extreme difficulty Mr Blair faces in winning a referendum he has pledged on a constitution for the bloc.
That vote may not be held until early 2006, well after the next general election.
Unprecedented reverse
The results followed a drubbing in local government elections in which Labour’s share of the vote slid to third place, an unprecedented reverse for a governing party.
Mr Blair acknowledged Iraq had contributed to a "bad set of results".
But he declined an invitation from one MP to apologise for the war, Labour sources said.
"The public needs to know that we are controlling events, not that events are controlling us," Mr Blair told MPs.
Labour MPs put up a show of unity at the meeting and the main dissenters kept quiet but unease persists in the party’s ranks.
"Tony speaks, we all clap, that’s what you expect at these meetings," one MP said.
Analysts say Labour can draw comfort from its 161-seat parliamentary majority, which means an enormous vote swing would be needed for the party to be ousted at the next election.
Labour was quick to point out governments across Europe were battered by protest votes and British mid-term elections are traditionally used to kick the incumbent government.
In the 1999 European elections, the Conservatives soundly beat Labour but two years later Mr Blair won the 2001 general election in a landslide.
Chirac pledges continuity
French President Jacques Chirac has also pledged continuity from his Government.
He is resisting pressure for change from the opposition Socialists after they trounced his ruling UMP party in the European vote.
"The Government must and will continue its task," Mr Chirac told reporters after meeting German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in the western German city of Aachen.
He says France’s economic reforms will continue.
Earlier, the Socialist Party urged Mr Chirac to dismiss Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin and make policy changes, as opinion polls showed half of French voters thought Mr Raffarin should quit.
The Socialists gave the UMP party its second election drubbing in less than three months in the elections.
Voters punished the Government over high unemployment and cost-cutting, as in regional elections in March.
"This colourless Government has no legitimacy any more and common sense should lead Mr Raffarin and his team to resign," Jean-Marc Ayrault, leader of Socialist deputies in Parliament, said in a radio interview.
Mr Chirac’s pledge for continuity shows he intends to pursue controversial reforms, including an overhaul of France’s costly health care system.
For his part, Chancellor Schroeder says he will not be swayed by the European results, which delivered him one of the biggest electoral slaps.
His ruling Social Democrats suffered catastrophic losses blamed on anger at their tough economic reform drive that includes social welfare cuts.
"I can only continue with these policies and I want to continue only with these policies," Mr Schroeder said, adding there was "no alternative" to his program.
— Reuters