Britons hope Blair will heed warning

Others, however, dismissed the outcome of Thursday's general election as a waste of time, since all politicians make promises and fail to deliver.

Blair, who celebrates his 52nd birthday Friday, enjoyed a sober victory after Labour was elected for a third successive time but lost scores of seats in parliament, largely to the main opposition Conservatives.

"I am content with this result because I voted for Labour, even though I was against the Iraq war," said Ferenc Ebzue, 26, a chartered surveyor in London.

"I think this sends a message to the government that people were not happy with the way the prime minister handled Iraq," he said.

"It will make the government sit up and listen more," Ebzue added before rushing to work.

With ballots counted so far in 620 of 645 constituencies, Labour had won 353 seats in the 646-seat House of Commons, well ahead of the main opposition Conservatives with 195 seats and the smaller Liberal Democrats with 60.

The party's majority, however, is expected to be much lower than the landslide victories enjoyed in 1997 and 2001, meaning that Blair will be unable to lead the government in the presidential style he had adopted, analysts said.

They also predicted the outcome would force Blair to hand power prematurely to Gordon Brown, his chancellor of the exchequer, despite pledging to serve a full term.

In post-election remarks, Blair said it was "clear that the British people wanted the return of the Labour Party, but with a reduced majority," and promised to respond "sensibly, wisely and responsibly".