Labour wins third term
As expected, Labour has won the 2005 general election. Tony Blair will stay on as Prime Minister, although he has promised to step down before the next election. With his majority reduced significantly, that could happen within two years.
High profile results included the election of Respect leader George Galloway at the expense of Labour loyalist Oona King and the defeat of Robert Kilroy Silk.
Both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats increased their numbers of MPs, although the latter's so-called decapitation strategy was not very successful, claiming only one Shadow Cabinet scalp – that of education spokesman Tim Collins.
The Lib Dems did, however, win their top target seat of Cardiff Central, with its high student population, overturning a Labour majority of just 659.
Michael Howard, the Conservative leader, has meanwhile said that he will stand down "sooner rather than later". Claiming that he would be too old to take office by the next election, he said that he would go once the party had had chance to reform its system of electing his successor.
With most seats outside Northern Ireland now declared, Labour looks to have won around 36% of the vote, the Conservatives 33% and the Lib Dems 23%. Labour's majority has been cut from 167 in 2001 to 66, putting the party's leadership in a more difficult position than it had hoped for. Forthcoming battles over ID cards and other controversial legislation could now be much harder for them to win.
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