London - Rank-and-file politicians from Britain's Labour Party voted by a narrow margin yesterday to retain a man loyal to Prime Minister Tony Blair as their chairman.
The margin of victory for the party's shop steward was wafer-thin as Labour politicians showed they have grown uneasy that Mr Blair pays them no heed.
Mr Clive Soley, head of the Parliamentary Labour Party since 1997, beat off a challenge from former minister Mr Tony Lloyd by 184 votes to 178. Forty-two MPs did not vote.
After a first day of voting on Tuesday, the Labour MPs who dominate the House of Commons split 169 for Mr Soley, 121 for Mr Lloyd and 77 for backbench maverick Mr Andrew Mackinlay.
With no-one capturing more than half the vote, Mr Mackinlay dropped out and Mr Soley gained just enough of his support to win yesterday.
Mr Mackinlay had criticised Mr Soley, who has lobbied strenuously to keep his job, for being too close to the Labour leadership - delivering its message to MPs rather than vice-versa.