TORY DEFEAT DEALS BLOW TO MAJOR.Byline: Sarah Lyall Sarah Lambert Lyall is an American-born journalist who writes for The New York Times. Lyall is a graduate of Philips Exeter Academy, class of 1981[1] and of Yale University. The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times Somehow defiant, even after his party's second-worst local election defeat in recent history, Prime Minister John Major promised Friday that his Conservative government would fight for ``the heart and soul and future of this country'' and go on to win the next general election. But despite Major's confident words, no one could argue that his political position was anything but precarious. On Thursday, Tories across the country were skewered in local elections that were seen widely as a referendum on Major's government, which is clinging desperately to its one-seat majority in Parliament as it braces for a general election in the coming year. The results, coming on the heels of dissatisfaction over the Tories' handling of the ``mad cow disease'' crisis and the perception that the party is crumbling under the weight of its own internecine in·ter·nec·ine adj. 1. Of or relating to struggle within a nation, organization, or group. 2. Mutually destructive; ruinous or fatal to both sides. 3. Characterized by bloodshed or carnage. arguments, have left a deep impression here that the government is fighting for its life. When it became clear that the Tories had won just 28 percent of the vote in elections for 3,000 local councils, the best anyone in the party could say Friday was that they were relieved it had not been as bad as last year, when the Tories won only 25 percent of the vote. The elections have no bearing on Major's one-seat majority in Parliament, but they are an ominous reflection of the public temperament. ``These elections are important because in very few constituencies are local issues at stake,'' said Anne Applebaum Anne Applebaum (born 25 July 1964) is a journalist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author who has written extensively about communism and the development of civil society in Eastern Europe and the USSR / Russia. , a columnist for The Evening Standard of London. ``In almost every one, the main issue is the prime minister, the party and the government. It's as if people were using the elections simply to express their opinions about the prime minister.'' With all the votes counted and a few seats still in dispute, the Tories had lost a total of 537 council seats, about half of those they were defending. Labor won about 44 percent of the vote and gained 434 new seats. Some 143 seats were won by the Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats, British political party Liberal Democrats, British political party created in 1988 by the merger of the Liberal party with the Social Democratic party; the party was initially called the Social and Liberal Democratic party. , a strong showing by the country's third-largest party. Much to their dismay, the Tories lost in several regions that are seen as key areas for them. The Liberal Democrats won control of Tunbridge Wells, a traditional Tory stronghold. The Labor party won in Basildon, home of the so-called Essex Man - the working-class voter not wedded to a particular party - and a linchpin linch·pin or lynch·pin n. 1. A locking pin inserted in the end of a shaft, as in an axle, to prevent a wheel from slipping off. 2. of the Tory election victory in 1992, and in Peterborough, important because it is the constituency of Brian Mawhinney, the Conservative Party chairman. The Conservatives, who have been in power since 1979, have in recent months been mired mire n. 1. An area of wet, soggy, muddy ground; a bog. 2. Deep slimy soil or mud. 3. A disadvantageous or difficult condition or situation: the mire of poverty. v. in a seemingly endless series of internal squabbles over the direction of the party, particularly regarding its relationship with Europe. Major's position has not been helped this spring by the crisis over the mad cow disease mad cow disease: see prion. mad cow disease or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) Fatal neurodegenerative disease of cattle. Symptoms include behavioral changes (e.g. , widely perceived to be a public relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most , financial and policy disaster for his government. At the same time, he is fighting the perception that some of his fellow Tories, including Michael Heseltine, his deputy, and John Redwood, a leader of the party's right-wing, anti-Europe faction, are jockeying for his job. |
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