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LONDON, ENGLAND - COUNTING began in local elections on Thursday with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown facing potentially heavy losses in his first major electoral test since taking over from Mr Tony Blair in June.
There was intense focus on London, where two political mavericks were battling for the job of mayor in the closest election since the office was created eight years ago.
The ruling Labour Party did badly at the last local elections in 2004, when public anger was high over Britain's backing for the United States in the Iraq war.
If Mr Brown loses even more ground this time - and the capital falls to the opposition Conservative Party - it would further damage his standing and fan speculation over a possible challenge to his leadership.
'It becomes a story. Every small mistake adds up. It will be seen as part of this narrative that it is a government in disarray,' said Mr James North, 30, a computer programmer voting in north London.
Voting began at 7am (2pm Singapore time) and finished at 10pm (5am Singapore time). The first results were expected to be available at about midnight (7am Singapore time) but a full picture would not be available until Friday.
'I think it is going to be very close,' London mayor Ken Livingstone told reporters as he cast his vote.
'Nothing is certain until tonight,' Mr Johnson said.
Governments traditionally suffer a bloody nose in mid-term polls and Mr Brown does not have to call a parliamentary election until 2010, by which time he will be hoping the global credit crunch will have eased.
He received a little good news on Thursday after the Bank of England signalled the worst of the crunch might be over and said banks were being too cautious in their lending.
However, that will be tempered by data showing manufacturing growth continues to slow while prices rocket.
Mr Brown's standing soared after he took over from Mr Blair after 10 years as finance minister overseeing steady economic growth.
The media and opposition accused him of dithering over calling a snap election in October - a move he eventually decided against - and he has also been beset by party in-fighting, economic turmoil and industrial unrest.
On Wednesday, Mr Brown acknowledged he had made mistakes over tax reform. A party revolt had forced him to make concessions to prevent people on low incomes being hurt by the changes. And a poll this week gave the Conservatives a huge 14-point lead.
About 4,000 seats on 160 councils in England and Wales were being contested in the local elections.
At stake in the mayoral election was responsibility for a 11-billion-pound (S$30-billion) budget and the running of one of the world's leading financial centres. -- REUTERS
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