Voters in Britain have turned against Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour Party in two Westminster by-elections in the English midlands.
The reverses are seen as a reflection of public opposition to the war in Iraq.
Although Labour held on to its seat in the Birmingham constituency of Hodge Hill, its majority of 11,000 in the last general election was slashed to 450.
In the Leicester South constituency, the Liberal Democrats overturned a Labour majority of 13,000 to take the seat by 1,600 votes.
The Conservatives came third in both polls.
