British exit polls: Blair loses Sedgefield to Reg Keys
Written by James Pringle, UK Correspondent
Thursday, 05 May 2005

British Prime Minister is set to lose his seat in the Parliament to a slain British soldier's father, according exit polls that showed an easy win for the anti-war challenger.

The PressEsc exit poll of voters who have cast their ballots gave 56% of the vote to Reg Keys, the independent candidate representing the organisation Military Families Against War.

Tony Blair only managed to garner 22% of the vote with the remaining split between the other candidates, most of whom supported Reg Keys candidacy.

But there are growing fears that the official results in Sedgefield may not reflect the people's wishes following the vote-rigging scandal that broke out in the constituency.

A police investigation into more than 600 complaints of postal vote fraud was dropped on order from the "top", one Durham Constabulary whistleblower alleged.

Political analysts expect a Labour MP to resign soon after the election to make way for the Blair.

Exit polls from other constituencies suggest that Labour is on course for a historic third term, and Gordon Brown has emerged as the favourite to become the new Prime Minister.