Britain’s Labour Party won re-election in Parliament, which ensures that Tony Blair will continue on as Prime Minister. Already, the media is spinning the election as a terrible rebuke for Blair over the Iraq war. Setting aside the fact that this terrible rebuke resulted in Labour winning its third consecutive election for the first time in history, the numbers simply don’t bear out the media’s contention.

As of this writing, the election results show that the Conservatives have gained 33 seats in Parliament, while the Labor Party lost a total of 47 seats. In other words, over 70% of the seats lost by Labour were picked up by the other major party that supported the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. This hardly seems like a stunning victory for the anti-war side.

I’ve noticed that even Tony Blair seems to be pinning Labour’s reduced majority in Parliament on the Iraq war issue, saying, “I know too that Iraq has been a divisive issue in this country but I hope now that we can unite again and look to the future there and here.” But remember, it is in the Labour Party’s interests to pin the blame on Iraq, an issue that is in the rear-view mirror for many people. It would be much more tricky for Labour to admit that its lower margins resulted from domestic issues; those issues are likely to still be on the minds of voters at the next election, whereas Iraq may not.