Blair back with reduced majority
British PM acknowledges Iraq war was 'divisive'
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 Tony Blair thanks supporters for his return as British PM one more time (May 5)
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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Prime Minister Tony Blair has won a historic third term for his Labour Party -- but with his authority dented by a reduced majority in parliament.
Support for Blair dipped in evident punishment for going to war in Iraq and there was a big shock for Labour when expelled Labour MP George Galloway won a seat for his anti-war Respect party.
At 0510 GMT Labour had 345 seats, the Conservatives 188, the Liberal Democrats 57 and other parties 13. (Shock victory for Labour war rebel)
CNN's European Political Editor Robin Oakley said that predictions of Labour's majority were settling around the 70 mark, down from 161.
After retaining his parliamentary seat despite a challenge from the father of a British soldier killed in Iraq, Blair acknowledged the war had brought problems. (Soldier's father's attack)
"I know 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," he said after results gave him a resounding victory in his constituency of Sedgefield on his 52nd birthday.
"It's not yet clear obviously what the majority is, it seems as if it's clear ... that the British people wanted the return of a Labour government but with a reduced majority, and we have to respond to that sensibly and wisely."
Blair had to win his seat to keep his job as prime minister. (Blair profile)
CNN's Oakley said that there clearly was an "Iraq factor" in the results.
It appeared the voters had accepted Conservative leader Michael Howard's invitation to "wipe the smirk off Tony Blair's face," he said.
The outcome could set the stage for Blair to be replaced early by a party rival -- the favorite being Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown.(Blair's secret weapon)
Brown was widely credited for the strong economy that helped seal the Labour victory, outweighing the bitterness many voters said they felt over Iraq.
Brown called the predicted Labour victory "historic" but said it was too early to say what the majority would be.
"This is the work that drives us on. This is the vision that gives enduring purpose to what we do. This is the task our party wants to take forward starting from this morning," Brown said after winning a seat in his constituency.
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, whose seat of Blackburn had been thought under threat, was also an early winner. Blair has already indicated Straw would stay on in the post if Labour won.
The Conservatives' Howard conceded defeat in his southern coastal constituency of Folkestone and Hythe, putting on a brave face and saying: "What has happened on this election day marks a significant step towards our recovery."
CNN's Oakley said that none of the main party leaders -- Blair, Tory leader Howard and the Liberal Democrats' Charles Kennedy -- could take great comfort from the result.
He said that with potentially 50 Labour left wing rebels, Blair would have problems pushing a reformist New Labour program through.
"There is a sense in which this election has been a referendum on Blair and I think it is going to leave him considerably weakened. My guess is it really hastens Blair's departure ... he may not be there at Christmas," Mark Wickham-Jones, senior lecturer in politics at Bristol University, told Reuters.
Clare Short, who quit Blair's Cabinet over the war, said Blair had proved a liability.
"I think everyone agrees we would have done better with a different leader," Short said, in remarks quoted by The Associated Press.
"One of the conclusions of this is that Blair certainly does not have a mandate to launch another war along with George Bush," Robin Cook, who resigned from Blair's Cabinet in protest to the war, told AP.
Brown factor
Former Conservative Defense Secretary Michael Portillo said the projected outcome could prove perilous for Blair.
"On these results I would have thought ... the Brown supporters will be wondering how quickly they can move Tony Blair out of Downing Street," he said, according to AP.
Meanwhile, a rebel Labour party member scored a stunning victory when he overturned a majority of almost 20,000 to snatch one of the ruling party's safest seats from its official candidate.
Peter Law secured the once staunch Labour seat of Blaenau Gwent in Wales, previously represented by former Labour greats as Aneurin Bevan and former party leader Michael Foot.
Law, who secured over 20,000 votes, defied brain surgery to run in the election.
He decided to stand in the Welsh constituency after Labour imposed an all-women shortlist of candidates to replace retiring left wing member of parliament Llew Smith.
Former TV personality Robert Kilroy-Silk, standing for his new anti-EU Veritas party in Erewash, came in fourth place, coming almost 20,000 votes behind Labour's Liz Blackman. He said he had never really expected to win the seat, but wanted to offer the public "some honesty" in politics. The Green party, hoping to win its first Westminster seat in Brighton Pavilion, came third but won 9,530 votes, or 22 percent, the party's best ever result. Candidate Keith Taylor, heralded it as "a fantastic" result in the face of a "grossly unfair electoral system."
