British prime minister, Tony Blair, suffered further electoral trauma yesterday, losing to his Conservative opponents at European polls as support surged for a fringe party that demands Britain withdraw from the EU.

With results for 68 of Britain?s 78 seats in the European Parliament declared, the United Kingdom Independence Party had snatched 12, capitalising on the British public?s traditionally eurosceptic views.

The Conservatives won 25 seats and Blair?s Labour Party a paltry 17 ? another damaging result for the Prime Minister, who has already admitted his decision to wage war in Iraq has taken a heavy electoral toll.

Britons voted on Thursday in the first day of a four-day 25-nation poll that ended on Sunday. The remaining 10 seats, for Northern Ireland and Scotland, will be announced today.

?The results look as though they are going to be very disappointing, not just for us but for all the main political parties,? Blair?s Trade Secretary, Patricia Hewitt told. She cited Iraq as a major factor.

In local government election voting on Thursday, held at the same time as the European polls, Blair received a drubbing.

In terms of share of the vote, Labour was pushed into third place by the Liberal Democrats ? an unprecedented reverse for a governing party in Britain.

Blair has already called on his followers to hold their nerve as some disaffected Labour members have demanded he stand aside, something he has resolutely refused to do.

Analysts say taken as a whole, last week?s elections sound a serious warning to Blair that he cannot take a third general election victory for granted. A vote is expected next year.

But the Conservatives have also failed to show they can overturn Blair?s massive majority in Parliament.

?Although this is a bad night for the Labour Party, no question about that, that is not being mirrored by a very good night for the Conservative party,? said Anthony King, professor of government at Essex University. ?UKIP is making inroads and it is making inroads mainly into the Conservative vote.?

Mid-term elections in Britain are traditionally used to kick the government of the day. In 1999, when the European elections were last held, the Conservatives soundly beat Labour but two years later, Blair won the 2001 general election in a landslide.

Backed by actress Joan Collins and a popular talk-show host forced off air for criticising Arabs, UKIP?s rise has taken the gloss off the Conservatives? good performance in the local council polls.

But longer-term, it could spell more trouble for Blair. He has pledged to offer Britons a referendum on an EU constitution, likely to be signed and sealed at a heads of government summit later this week. UKIP?s performance shows just how hard it will be for him to win that vote.

?Labour?s result is the worst result of a governing party in British electoral history,? Conservative chairman Liam Fox said.

?The results clearly show that Mr Blair does not have the moral authority to sign a European Constitution.?

<I>?The results clearly show that Mr Blair does not have the moral authority to sign a European Constitution.?</I>

<B>Mike Peacock</B>