The prime minister is this week set to talk up Labour's domestic record in a bid to shore up his leadership in the wake of a stinging round of election results.

Following heavy losses in the local and European elections Tony Blair was on Monday expected to address a meeting of the parliamentary Labour Party.

He is expected to concede that Iraq undermined Labour's election prospects but will mount a stout defence of his actions.

On Tuesday the prime minister will attempt to relaunch his leadership when he addresses the media at his monthly news conference in Downing Street.

The fightback comes as senior Labour figures admitted that the government had been given a bloody nose in last Thursday's elections.

Leading Blairite John Reid has said that Labour is "disappointed" by its poor performance in the European elections.

But speaking on Monday the health secretary said the results had been "disastrous" for the Conservatives who failed to capitalise due to the UK Independence Party's strong showing.

Labour took a 22 per cent share of the vote and saw its number of MEPs fall by six.

"This is a disappointing vote for us, there's no question about that, but it was a particularly disastrous night for the Conservatives," Reid told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"This gives us in the Labour Party a huge challenge to argue our case for Europe, because we are pretty united... on what we believe are the enormous benefits from the EU.

"It gives the Conservatives not just a challenge but a crisis, because they are people who have pandered to the sort of sentiment that UKIP are now cashing in on.

"They are well known not to be united but to be pretty radically divided, with some people wanting to reform the EU and most of them just wanting to get out, so I think they have got an impending disaster coming."

Ahead of Blair's fightback Reid said there would be "radical" announcements in areas like health, education and law and order.