All the U.S. Media says BLAIR won the election, but...

[Atman]

...Blair didn't win a thing. The party won, a slim win at that. In the British Parlaimentary system, the party now gets to choose who will be Prime Minister, and the Labours are none too fond of Tony The Poodle these days. But you don't hear the MSM talking about THAT aspect. They just keep repeating that Blair won a HISTORIC RE-ELECTION.

My guess is this is just BushCo Media Group's way of saying "See, Tony got re-elected, too, so Bush didn't do anything wrong." At least, that is the implicite message.



Please Vote for me at TSC!

[Maple]

1. They are also missing

that Blair is leftwing...the Tories are rightwing. The Tories are Margaret Thatcher's party.

LibDems are left-leftwing

[ananda]

2. Blair is Labor..

.. not Lib Dem.

Labor is not very left any more, probably more center right, kind of like Clinton was.

Sue

[Stinky The Clown]

3. And it was the Torries who saw an increase in the seats they hold ...

... worrisome, indeed.

I heard it said, however, that to the Brit-in-the-street, the issue was not even Iraq. It was a domestic issue ... borders and **immigration**.

[megatherium]

8. and crime too, I gather. nt

[Atman]

4. The Liberal Dems got beat

The U.S. media doesn't care about the differences in language across the pond. They'll use this to play up the defeat of "liberal democrats," and the re-election of Bush's war partner, mark my words.

The actual "Liberal Democrat" party got trounced, though. Third place.

(ON EDIT) Whoops...I should have re-checked the latest results before I posted that. LD's aren't in third anymore, or so I hear.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

5. For those interested, there's an election thread going on here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=191x3796#3818

[jasmeel]

6. I don't understand how Blair didn't get voted out!! That would

have been a great statement!

[Atman]

7. Because Blair wasn't running for anything

The Brits elect MP's, who then select their Prime Minister. The people may not have had a problem with the philosophy of the party, they just don't like Blair...the MP's can (and some say, likely will) oust Blair and select a new Prime Minister.

[NV Whino]

9. Greg Palast has a succinct explanation

TONY BLAIR CAN'T WIN
Wednesday, May 4, 2005
By Greg Palast

Mark my words: Tony Blair won't be re-elected on Thursday. However, he will remain in office.

That's because Brits don't vote for their Prime Minister. They've got a "parliamentary" system there in the Mother Country. And the difference between democracy and parliamentary rule makes all the difference. It is the only reason why Blair will keep his job -- at least for a few months.

Let me explain. The British vote only for their local Member of Parliament. The MPs, in turn, pick the PM. If a carpenter in Nottingham doesn't like Prime Minister Blair (not all dislike him, some detest him), the only darn thing they can do about it is vote against their local MP, in this case, the lovely Alan Simpson, a Labour Party stalwart who himself would rather kiss a toad than cuddle with Tony.

gregpalast.com