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October 12, 2008 3:57:38 PM CDT

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New Election Loss Could Be Knock-Out Punch for Brown

Posted May 23, 08 2:32 AM CDT in World 

(Newser) – The crushing defeat for the Labor Party yesterday in an election in a working class district of England could spell disaster for Prime Minister Gordon Brown, reports the Guardian. The opposition Tory candidate beat the ruling party choice in a by-election to fill a death vacancy by a whopping margin in the decaying northern England industrial town of Crewe—the kind of place considered a bedrock of Labor support.

The vote was seen as a crucial test of Brown's popularity. With the loss coming on the heels of heavy Labor defeats in recent local elections, there are rumblings in the ranks that there could be no way back for Brown. Some think moves to oust the leader could already be under way by the time the party holds its annual conference this fall.

Source Guardian (UK)

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Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown walks past the logo for the London 2012 Olympics during a visit to the main stadium site in east London yesterday.   (AP Photo)
Conservative candidate Edward Timpson, center right, kisses his wife Julia after he is announced as winner of the Crewe and Nantwich by-election, Friday May 23, 2008.   (AP Photo/PA, Anthony Devlin)
Voters attend a polling station in Nantwich England as voting begins in the Crewe and Nantwich by-election Thursday May 22, 2008.   (AP Photo)
Conservative Party chief David Cameron, right, and his local candidate Edward Timpson, left, on a visit to a train haulage company, during their campaign ahead of the Crewe and Nantwich by election.   (AP Photo/Paul Thomas)
In this Friday, May 2, 2008 file photo, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown speaks to the media at 10 Downing Street, London.   (AP Photo/Sang Tan, WPA Pool)
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Great Britain  • United Kingdom  • Gordon Brown  • England  • Labour Party  • Conservative Party  • David Cameron  • British elections  • Tory Party


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