British Prime Minister Tony Blair's ruling Labor Party Friday lost a parliamentary by-election seat in the city of Leicester, following a by-election billed as a key popularity test for the premier.

Labor lost out to the Liberal Democrat party, which vehemently opposed the Iraq war, in the Leicester South constituency.

Parmjit Singh Gill of the Liberal Democrats won 10,274 votes in the Leicester South seat, beating the ruling Labor candidate by more than 1,600 votes. During the 2001 general election, Labor's majority was more than 13,000.

"The justification which Tony Blair gave for backing George Bush was wrong," Singh said in his victory speech. "The people of Leicester South have spoken for the people of Britain. Their message is that the prime minister has abused and lost their trust. He should apologize and he should apologize now."

Labor's Liam Byrne won 7,451 votes in the Birmingham seat of Hodge Hill with the Liberal Democrats close behind on 6,991. During the 2001 general election, Labor's majority was more than 11,000.

Blair's public trust ratings have plunged since he led Britain to war in Iraq last year. A report on Wednesday into intelligence failings on Iraq gave his anti-war critics fresh ammunition.

Birmingham Hodge Hill became vacant after the sitting member resigned while the Labor representative for Leicester South, Jim Marshall, died earlier this year.

(Xinhua News Agency July 16, 2004)