Counting begins in local vote test for Brown

By Katherine Baldwin and Tim Castle

LONDON (Reuters) - Counting began in local elections on Thursday with Prime Minister Gordon Brown facing potentially heavy losses in his first major electoral test since taking over from Tony Blair in June.

There was intense focus on London, where two political mavericks were battling for the job of mayor in the closest election since the office was created eight years ago.

The Labour Party did badly at the last local elections in 2004, when public anger was high over Britain's backing for the United States in the Iraq war.

If Brown loses even more ground this time -- and the capital falls to the Conservative Party -- it would further damage his standing and fan speculation over a possible challenge to his leadership.

"It becomes a story. Every small mistake adds up. It will be seen as part of this narrative that it is a government in disarray," said James North, 30, a computer programmer voting in north London.

Voting began at 7 a.m. and finished at 10 p.m. The first results were expected to be available at about midnight but a full picture would not be available until Friday.

"I think it is going to be very close," London mayor Ken Livingstone told reporters as he cast his vote.

"Nothing is certain until tonight," Johnson said.