Blair Re-elected to Parliament

Blair Re-elected to Parliament

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British Prime Minister Tony Blair was re-elected to the House of Commons for his home constituency of Sedgefield in northeast England in Thursday's general election.

He won the seat with 26,110 votes, with a big majority.

Blair said at his home constituency that he believed the Labor Party has won the election. "You have given us tonight an historic moment in the Labor Party; for tonight the Labor Party, for the first time in the 100 years of our history, looks as if we may be on the verge of a second successive full term of office," he said.

"I believe this country is a better country today than in 1997, and I believe five years from now it will be a better country than today," he added.

Labor Party Landslide Victory

Prime Minister Tony Blair's ruling Labor Party won a landslide victory in Britain's general election, showed initial official election results released on early Friday.

A total of 3,294 candidates were contesting for the 659 seats in the House of Commons, with 330 needed for a majority. With 423 of the 659 constituencies reporting so far, Labor gained 330 seats, the Conservatives 56 seats, the Liberal Democrats 28 seats and others 8 seats.

Under Britain's parliamentary system, the prime minister does not directly campaign for election. Instead, the party that wins a majority in the House of Commons forms the government, and its leader becomes prime minister.

Among the 59.2 million population in Britain, 44.5 million are registered voters, who must be 18 years or older.