WHAT a strange thing the elections for Euro MPs turned out to be, with Labour, who, according to repeated polls, had a 20 per cent lead over the Conservatives, being pushed into second place in the North West, holding on to only four seats out of their former ten.
Why did this happen? Quite apart from a dreadful Labour campaign - what there was of it - their beloved leader was elsewhere, sinking his political fangs into anything that resembled a photo call, and it seems clear now, judging by the acerbic comments of "old Labour" activists and some of the eminent TV commentators, that Blair's bubble has finally burst.
His rare appearances in Parliament and the number of Cabinet committees he has missed are bad enough, but surely, he should have been at home during the campaign, backing up his workers' morale, which took a fearful hammering at the local elections in May.
GRANVILLE BROADHURST, Sharples Street, Accrington.
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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