EAST LANCASHIRE'S Labour MPs held on to their seats comfortably despite a swing to the Tories and the failure of many of their traditonal supporters to vote.

The low turnouts will concern them as much as a similar picture nationwide will worry Prime Minister Tony Blair.

But for Blackburn's Jack Straw, Rossendale and Darwen's Janet Anderson and Hyndburn's Greg Pope the immediate concern is how Mr Blair reshuffles his government.

The Prime Minister is due to start the process as early as lunchtime. Mr Straw, who saw his majority cut by a third with a swing to the Tories of almost four per cent, is braced for a major move.

Despite his success in neutralising the Tory's traditional advantage on law and order, he is set to lose his prized job of Home Secretary to David Blunkett.

Instead Mr Straw is to be made Environment and Transport Secretary as current holder of the post Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott is shuffled of to the Cabinet Office as Mr Blair's enforcer.

The reward for taking this political hot potato would come if he can sort out Britain's road and rail chaos in the form of being made Foreign Secretary two years down the line.

Mr Pope - who did best among the five by holding the cut in his majority to just a quarter - looks set to come out of the obscurity of the government Whips Office and get a Ministerial job either at Education or Trade and Industry. Mrs Anderson - whose majority was halved - could also face a move either from her job as Tourism Minister to another porfolio or keeping her title in a another department if Mr Blair abolishes the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.

Mr Prentice also saw his majority halved after a spirited campaign by Tory Rasjid Skinner but can look forward to another four or five years as one of the more colourful mavericks on the Labour backbenches.

And Mr Pike can feel pleased that in his last election he clocked up a majority of more than 10,000 despite losing a third to his Tory opponent. He can now concentrate on his ambition of getting Burnley FC into the Premiership before he stands down at the next election.

For East Lancashire's lone Tory MP Nigel Evans there was personal satisfaction as he trounced Liberal Democrat Michael Carr - who beat him in his first by-lection in Ribble Valley - and almost doubled his majority in the process. While he would be deeply disappointed at his party's dismal performance in the election and at another Labour landslide, there was one further personal consolation. A new Tory Leader could well put him into the Shadow Cabinet raising his political profile further both locally and nationally.