Tony Blair alone bears the blame

The prime minister cannot long survive this election

Polly Toynbee
Friday May 6, 2005
The Guardian

The story of the night is the defection from Labour by those marching over to the Lib Dems - and some even to the Tories. Labour MPs never believed those opinion polls giving them an eight or 10 point lead. What they found on the doorsteps was profound anger focused on the person of Tony Blair himself. Today, he alone bears the blame for this haemorrhage of seats.
Tony Blair tried to persuade himself that the Iraq war was a chattering class obsession, but it was everywhere, even among those who usually pay scant attention to foreign policy. It became the symbol and the icon for any disappointment or grievance with the government over the last eight years. It all came down on Tony Blair's head.

etc
 http://politics.guardian.co.uk/election/comment/0,15803,1477907,00.html