Voters in the UK went to the polls in local elections today that could hasten the departure of Prime Minister Tony Blair, dogged by charges of incompetence that could hurt his party.
The Labour government has faced a barrage of criticism in past weeks over the bungled release of foreign prisoners, hospital cuts and Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott's confession he had an affair.
While local issues such as loutish behaviour or street lighting are high on voters' agendas, many people use mid-term local elections to punish a government in power.
Labour faces a resurgent Conservative party and could also lose ground to far-right groups helped by the emergence of violent crime by foreigners as a top electoral issue.
Disastrous results could increase calls from within Labour for Mr Blair to name a departure date, or hand power to Chancellor Gordon Brown, his presumed successor.
Mr Blair won a third straight term for Labour last year, albeit with a reduced majority, but has said he will not stand again.
The elections will also be a test of strength for the main opposition Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, both of whom have new leaders keen to show they can deliver results.
The Conservatives must win more urban votes if they are to stand a chance of winning the next parliamentary election due by 2010.
In today's vote, 4,360 seats on 176 local councils in England are being contested. A loss of many more than 200 seats would be seen as a bad result for Labour, analysts say.
Polling stations opened at 7am and closed at 10pm.
London is a key battleground, where several Labour-controlled councils could fall to the Conservatives.
