Britain's Labour Party must return to the political centre ground if it is to rebuild support after suffering a crushing defeat in Thursday's general election, former Labour prime minister Tony Blair said in an article published on Sunday.

The Conservatives won a surprise overall majority, gaining almost 100 more parliamentary seats than Labour, and are forming a single-party government.

Labour leader Ed Miliband, widely seen as having steered the party leftwards after a more centrist period under Blair's "New Labour", resigned on Friday, blaming himself for the defeat.

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