As Prime Minister Gordon Brown completes one year in office on Friday, the Labour party suffered another humiliating setback.
LONDON: As Prime Minister Gordon Brown completes one year in office on Friday, the Labour party suffered another humiliating setback when the Conservative candidate retained the Henley seat in the by-elections.
The Labour party on Thursday lost its 500 pounds deposit as its candidate slumped to the fifth place below the ultra right-wing British Nationalist Party in the by-polls.
In election results declared early today, the Labour candidate Richard McKenzie polled less than 5 per cent votes, marking a new low for the party that has ruled Britain since 1997.
Brown chose not to hold any official function to mark his one year in office.
After taking over from Tony Blair, Brown began his tenure with considerable goodwill based on his record as a successful chancellor of the exchequer. But the honeymoon period did not last long.
Brown came in for much criticism on several occasions during the last year for his handling of the 10 per cent tax fiasco, imposing a tax on non-domiciles, several instances of official data being stolen, and ignominious defeats in the May local elections.
For a man hailed as a brilliant chancellor, Brown was soon caught in a maelstrom of economic woes, starting with the near-collapse of the Northern Rock bank. Today he is at pains to blame global forces for the hike in petrol and food prices.
The litany of Labour's woes continued as the Conservative candidate for Henley, John Howell, retained the seat that was vacated by Boris Johnson, who was elected the mayor of London in May.
Labour MPs openly talk of Brown having become a liability for the party. Amidst trenchant criticism from columnists and low ratings, party leaders claim that Labour could not win the next general election due in 2010 under Brown's leadership.
Calling Brown a 'zero from hero in 366 days', columnist Michael Brown wrote in The Independent: "The simple fact is that no Prime Minister in modern times gets to be 'crowned' leader without either the legitimacy of the party ballot box or a vote of the people.
"Resentment now fills the Labour backbenches because Mr Brown was not really chosen by MPs or the Labour Party let alone by the British people".
Prominent among those tipped to succeed Brown is foreign secretary David Miliband.
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