British Prime Minister Tony Blair took another electoral battering today as he lost to Conservative opponents at European polls and saw a surge in support for a fringe party that wants Britain to leave the European Union.
The Conservatives won 25 seats and Mr Blair's Labour Party 17 - another damaging result for the prime minister, who has already admitted his decision to wage war in Iraq prompted voters to desert him in droves in local elections last week.
With results for 68 of Britain's 78 seats in the European Parliament declared, the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) had snatched 12, capitalising on the British public's traditionally eurosceptic views.
"The results look as though they are going to be very disappointing, not just for us but for all the main political parties," Mr Blair's Trade Secretary, Ms Patricia Hewitt, said, citing Iraq as a major factor.
In terms of share of the vote, Labour was pushed into third place by the Liberal Democrats - an unprecedented reverse for a governing party in Britain.
Analysts say taken as a whole, this week's elections sound a serious warning to Mr Blair that he cannot take a third general election victory for granted. A vote is expected next year.
But the Conservatives have also failed to show they can overturn Mr Blair's massive majority in parliament, and the UKIP's rise took the gloss off the Conservatives' good performance in the local council polls.
Among the party's successful candidates in the European vote was former TV presenter Mr Robert Kilroy-Silk, who recently lost his job after criticising Arabs and whose recruitment to the party helped to raise its profile.