Respect breakthrough in the East End

From the BBC:

'George Galloway's anti-war Respect has succeeded in toppling Labour in its East London heartland of Tower Hamlets. It has increased its councillors from one to 11 [er, 12 actually] and unseated Labour council leader Michael Keith [Good!].

As a result Labour has lost overall control of the borough [er, unfortunately not quite], but they remain the party with the most support. Counting is still going on in Newham, where Respect also mounted a strong challenge [Respect won 3 seats there] and it won a ward in Birmingham with 55% of the vote.

Respect are now the second biggest group on Tower Hamlets council, with the Conservatives in third place - in a council where they had no members just two years ago. With 15 wards declaring, and two others going to a recount later on Friday, Labour has dropped 6 seats to come out with 23.

Respect have gained ten to 11 [12] and the Conservatives have risen by six to seven. The Liberal Democrats, predicted by many to be the main challengers, had a disastrous night compared to their expectations, ending up with four councillors.'

I'll write more about the election results, and Blair's reshuffle, including the decision to axe Jack Straw from Foreign Secretary (so it is easier for Blair to join Bush in bombing Iran) later. Blair looks like he is going to try and hang onto power as long as possible, however. The powerful never give up their power without a fight.