Blair and the Labor Party hold slight lead, polls say

LONDON — Tony Blair clings to a slim lead in his quest for a third term as British prime minister, despite widespread dissatisfaction with his support for President Bush and the war in Iraq.

Blair's steadfast backing has made him Bush's staunchest ally among foreign leaders but turned him into a lightning rod for criticism at home, where he is already the longest-serving Labor prime minister in history.

Polls show Blair and Labor with leads ranging from 3 to 8 percentage points. A poll released Monday by YouGov, an Internet research company, showed Labor with a 33 percent to 36 percent lead over the Conservative Party, its chief rival. The Liberal Democrats, the only major party to oppose the war, lagged the Conservatives by about 9 percentage points.

Telephone surveys of voters, published Sunday by The Times, The Independent and The Sunday Telegraph newspapers, gave Labor a wider lead: 6 to 8 points.

Labor's strength comes despite a marked decline in its leader's popularity. Blair had an approval rating of 54 percent after Baghdad fell in April 2003; he has been stuck at about 35 percent since January 2004, according to MORI polls published in the Telegraph.

More than half of Britons believe it was wrong to go to war in Iraq, The Independent reported last week.

About 8,000 British soldiers serve in Iraq alongside 138,000 Americans, making Britain's force the second-largest in the U.S.-led coalition.

British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon announced Monday that a British soldier from the 12th Mechanized Brigade died from injuries "sustained in hostile action" in the southern Iraqi city of Amarah. The death of Anthony Wakefield, 24, brought the number of British troops killed in Iraq since the invasion in March 2003 to 87.

Even turned-off voters could go for Blair in part because his main rival, Conservative leader Michael Howard, also supports the war and keeping British forces in Iraq, University of Essex government professor Anthony King said.

Political experts say Blair, who turns 52 Friday and has been prime minister since 1997, is suffering from "buyer fatigue" on the part of voters. "Win or lose, he's fast approaching his 'sell by' date," said Robert Waller, co-author of "The Almanac of British Politics." "Eight years is a long time, (and) even the most sympathetic of voters wearies of a politician."

"(Blair) has clearly lost a lot of faith and trust of the British people, but there's no great feeling for change," Waller said. He also noted that the strength of the economy helps Blair: "We're not going to throw out this government because we're rolling in (cash)."