Bugger

Tony Blair has held Sedgefield. But looking at the results, it's not such good news; while Blair's majority increased in absolute terms, his percentage of the vote was well down on last election. And with turnout increasing by 16%, and anti-war candidate Reg Keys getting 10% of the vote, the story seems clear: people flocked to the polls to vote against him.

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has also held his seat of Blackburn. Not much of an increase in turnout in this one, but a sizable swing to the LibDems, and Craig Murray (former British ambassador to Unzbekistan, who resigned after protesting about the Uzbek regime's use of torture) got 5%.

Overall, it looks like a substantial swing away from labour - but due to the UK's archaic first past the post system, it may not actually translate into a gain in seats for the smaller parties. Which is yet another example of how badly the UK needs proportional representation...