CAIRO, May 7, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – The results of the parliamentary elections, which saw Labour's majority cut from 160 MPs to 66, has raised many questions about the political future of Prime Minister Tony Blair, amid calls he should pay the price immediately for Labour's losses over the Iraq war and step down.

Writing in the Guardian on Saturday, May 7, former foreign secretary Robin Cook asked Blair to set out a timetable for his departure.

“Blair was elected because the Labour government was more popular than he is,” he wrote in an opinion piece in the left-leaning daily.

“How can he imagine that the millions of voters who deserted Labour over Iraq on Thursday will return while he remains as leader?” he asked.

Cook urged Blair to “consider whether the best way of safeguarding his legacy may be to do his party the final service of stepping down sooner rather than later”.

Another ex-ministerial critic, MP Peter Kilfoyle, called for “a period of somber reflection on all sides” that would allow Blair to retire with dignity rather than be pushed out by “kneejerk” hostility.

With most election results in, Labour was heading for a majority of 66 seats in the 646-seat House of Commons, sharply down from 161 last time.

The Labour’s 36% share of the vote is a record low for a winning party, according to the Guardian.

In its leading story, The Independent said British voters have “punished the Prime Minister for Iraq”.

“Blair had his wings clipped”, added the leading newspaper.

The right-wing Daily Mail, meanwhile, maintained that Blair “is facing a lingering political death after his heavy general election losses”.

“Labour insiders predicted last night that he will stand down next year and hand power to Gordon Brown (his popular finance minister),” it added in a front page article.

Despite his ambitions, the election will fuel a view among many Labour MPs that Blair is a liability rather than an asset.

Some were openly saying they wanted Brown, who is far more popular with both party and public, to take over immediately.

Brown, 54, is widely credited with masterminding the stability of Britain's economy, which has outperformed its European neighbors during a global downturn.

It said that Conservatives leader Michael Howard’s bombshell decision to step down after the election loss raised questions as to “why doesn't Blair take the hint”.

Whitehall insiders revealed that contingency plans have been drawn up to cover his possible exit strategies, reported the Guardian.

They include a sudden resignation after hosting a successful G8 industrial summit in July, a departure after a UK referendum on the new European Union constitution in the spring of next year or at the Labour party conference in the autumn of 2006.

Several newspapers compared Blair's somber mood on Friday, May 6, to the scenes after his victorious wins in 1997 and 2001.

Blair, who won two landslide polls for Labour in 1997 and 2001, has seen his popularity drop due largely to his support for the Iraq war.