From correspondents in London, England, 10:15 AM IST

London - Will British Prime Minister Tony Blair quit 10 Downing Street gracefully or will he be dragged out, screaming - a la Margaret Thatcher?

That is the question uppermost in the minds of many inside and outside Westminster as the Prime Minister continues to resist demands from partymen and others to announce a schedule for his handing over the Labour party's leadership to his successor.

Now in his third consecutive term as prime minister, Blair is up against a wall of ennui and worse among several of his cabinet colleagues, union leaders, partymen and large sections of the British public due to a combination of anti-incumbency sentiment, an unpopular policy on Iraq, general perception of Blair privileging spin over substance, and sheer familiarity breeding contempt.

Blair has already announced that he will complete his record third term in office, but partymen believe that Labour could never hope to win another election under Blair. They want his successor - widely believed to be Chancellor Gordon Brown - to be in place much before the next general election.

The immediate clamour for Blair announcing a schedule for his handing over is prompted by three major elections due in May 2007: English local and mayoral, Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly of Wales.

Labour MPs are convinced that the party's poor recent showing in local elections will be replicated in the three forthcoming elections if Blair remained at the helm, or if he did not announce his schedule for handing over to his successor. They want him to clearly spell out his future plans at the Labour party's annual conference on Sep 24.

A date for the general election is decided by the Prime Minister, but there must be a general election in Britain at least every five years, and the most recent one was on May 5, 2005.

It remains to be seen if the increasingly harried-looking Blair too validates Enoch Powell's famous dictum that all political careers end in failure, but if Labour MPs are to be believed, his record as Prime Minister is likely to be sullied if he does not retire gracefully.

Blair made it clear this week that he has no intention of obliging his critics and promised to 'get on with the job' rather than announce a date for his departure.

Uncharitable Labour supporters now allege that Blair is following Margaret Thatcher who once said she would 'go on and on and on', but had to leave 10 Downing Street unceremoniously in tears after her Cabinet refused to back her in a second round of leadership elections in 1990.

Blair told The Times: 'I have done what no other prime minister has done before me. I've said I'm not going to go on and on and on and said I'll leave ample time for my successor. Now at some point I think people have to accept that as a reasonable proposition and let me get on with the job.'

But this has not satisfied party MPs who are increasingly worried at the bad press Labour is getting every day and the growing ratings of Conservative leader David Cameron. Any further delay in setting the party house in order would cost it the next local and general elections, they feel.

A top union leader, Tony Woodley of the Transport and General Workers Union, Friday warned Blair not to repeat Tha

tcher's mistake by staying on too long as prime minister. He wanted an end to the uncertainty about Blair's plans.

Woodley, leader of one of the big four unions, said those advising Blair were not living in the real world. Labour was now the only party that did not have a leader to fight the next election, which was going to be very difficult to win, he argued.

'They should be advising him not to get himself into a position as Thatcher did, when she did not understand when to go,' he told BBC News.

Meanwhile, on Friday several Labour MPs publicly reiterated calls to Blair to announce a date for his retirement, in what is seen as a sign of growing backbench discontent within the party ahead of the conference season.

Former cabinet minister Andrew Smith said the leadership issue needed to be sorted out. 'I am disappointed that the Prime Minister has chosen to put it in these terms and that he won't say more and I think there will be widespread concern amongst the public as well as amongst Labour party members,' he told the BBC Today programme.

'I would have thought it's clear to everyone that the debilitating uncertainty over the leadership can't go on - it's bad for the country, bad for the government, bad for the Labour Party, and ultimately bad for Tony Blair himself.'

The remarks were echoed by Caerphilly MP, Wayne David, who said Blair should step down before local elections in Scotland and Wales, and added that his views were 'mainstream' and 'shared by the great majority of my colleagues'.

'There is a need for renewal of the party and the government now,' he said. 'And for that to happen, the speculation and future about the Prime Minister's future must be brought to an end. That is why we need clarity about the Prime Minister's position.'

The latest Guardian/ICM poll found the Conservatives running nine points ahead of Labour, with the party showing its lowest level of support since before the 1987 election.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)