Brown faces poll wipeout in southeast

By Tim Castle

READING (Reuters) - Prime Minister Gordon Brown could suffer a crushing blow in local council elections next week when the Labour Party is set to lose its last remaining stronghold in southeast England.

The prosperous town of Reading, 40 miles (70 kms) west of London and home to a pop festival, two universities and a host of international companies, is widely expected to part company with its Labour administration after 22 years in power.

Some 4,000 seats on 160 councils across England and Wales are at stake in the May 1 local election, Brown's first test at the polls since he took over from Tony Blair last June.

He has a mountain to climb. The latest opinion poll in Friday's Daily Telegraph showed Labour's popularity had plunged to a 21-year-low, trailing the resurgent Conservatives by 18 percentage points.

Reading is the only district outside London in the wealthy southeast of England that still has a Labour-controlled council and its loss would be another setback to Brown, whose popularity has plunged amid growing worries over the economy.

It would send a sharp signal to Labour about its prospects at the next parliamentary election, which Brown must call by 2010.

"We have defied political gravity for many years," said Labour lawmaker Martin Salter, a former deputy leader of Reading council and one of the town's two members of parliament.

It would be "a remarkable achievement" if Labour retained the council when the government trails in polls, he said.