The Labour Party in Britain is tonight licking its wounds after a by-election battle which saw success for the Liberal Democrats, but a Tory failure to cash in on the Prime Minister Tony Blair's unpopularity over Iraq.
Mr Blair is at Chequers this evening digesting the results of the contests yesterday in Leicester South - which saw a Liberal Democrat win - and Birmingham Hodge Hill, which saw Labour narrowly holding on to the seat.
His spokesman said the Prime Minister recognised people had "very strong views" about Iraq, but stressed he had his own view that the "calculus of the threat changed" after September 11.
Leicester South, previously seen as a safe Labour seat, saw Liberal Democrat Mr Parmjit Singh Gill elected to become the party's first MP from an ethnic minority.
While Labour's Mr Liam Byrne won the Birmingham seat - which the party has taken at every General Election since 1950 - the Lib Dems came close with their share of the vote up 26 per cent.
The polls show that while controversy over Iraq and general mid-term disquiet over his government may have harmed Mr Blair, the damage is certainly not fatal.
Health Secretary John Reid said the results were a "score draw" between Labour and the Lib Dems and a disaster for Tory leader Mr Michael Howard.
Dr Reid told the BBC Radio 4 that there was always a large protest vote in by-elections at this stage in an administration, and that this was magnified by the Iraq factor.
"To win one as well as lose one and to see the other party that would claim to be an alternative government going backwards before our very eyes means that we are not displeased with last night's result," he said.
Tory co-chairman Mr Liam Fox played down the significance of the by-elections, saying the Conservatives had won last month's nationwide polls for local authorities and the European Parliament.
"This is not our natural territory," he said. "It would have been nice to do better, but the real story here is that these are two of Labour's biggest drops in their vote since the Second World War.
"People are voting for the party that gives Labour the biggest bloody nose. "It is clear that they have lost the trust of the voters. A lot of Labour Cabinet Ministers must be now wondering which jobs they will be occupying next week after a panic reshuffle."
Westminster expects a limited cabinet re-shuffle next Wednesday - the tenth anniversary of Mr Blair's election as successor to Mr John Smith as Labour leader.