Depending on the paper you choose, last night’s local elections in Britain were a drubbing, a mauling or a bloodbath for Gordon Brown’s Labour party, reduced to third place behind the LibDems. The Prime Minister is contrite, but already the wonderers are wondering whether Labour can hope to win the next election or even simply to survive. (Although that last bit seems to be mostly rhetorical.) My favourite quote for the day:

“‘It’s not been a great night, it’s a wake-up call. People are angry. We have to find the underlying causes of this discontent and do something about it,’ says one grassroots Middle England MP.”

Gee. Maybe one of the causes of discontent is Labour MPs who didn’t realize the party needed a wakeup call.

A bad night for incumbents? Or a bad night for glum, tortured leaders who can’t comprehensibly explain where they want to take the country?