Posted on 04/05/2005 5:18:14 AM PDT by el_doctor2
Breaking on BBC The general election will be held on 5 May, Tony Blair says, as he kick-starts a month-long poll campaign.
http:\\www.bbcnews.com
Great! Now I can register my Postal Vote and get a decent Conservative candidate elected. My consituency is a marginal seat and my vote will help defeat my Labour MP.
One of us should post up an article on that whole sleazy Labour by-election corruption fiasco involving intimidation, vote-fraud and three Labour party members with the name "Mohammed". :0)
Here's too a cleanly fought election.
Not that there much in the way of choice. A socialist in moderate's clothing, who did the right thing in Iraq, but wants to slash defence spending and push Britain into the EU, or that weird vampire Tory, who appears to have no convictions and sought to jump on the bandwagon by criticizing the war in Iraq.
Then there are the barking mad Lib Dems with their fanatical pro-EU, anti-Bush views.
If only Screaming Lord Sutch were still alive today. Unfortunately his successor is forbidden from standing as he's a member of the Royal Family and would be busy anyway as he is marrying a horse on Saturday.
Here's too a cleanly fought election.
Not that there much in the way of choice. A socialist in moderate's clothing, who did the right thing in Iraq, but wants to slash defence spending and push Britain into the EU, or that weird vampire Tory, who appears to have no convictions and sought to jump on the bandwagon by criticizing the war in Iraq.
Then there are the barking mad Lib Dems with their fanatical pro-EU, anti-Bush views.
If only Screaming Lord Sutch of the Monster Raving Loony Party were still alive today. Unfortunately his successor is forbidden from standing as he's a member of the Royal Family and would be busy anyway as he is marrying a horse on Saturday.
posted twice and still made a basic spelling error.
Here's TO a cleanly fought election
(Fat chance, by the way)
Labour election fraud ‘would disgrace a banana republic’
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1555518,00.html
Also my friend in Military Intelligence in Basra recently returned to Blighty and informed me that the Government knew all along thet Blackwatch was to be deployed in the North despite their assurances that it had yert to be decided. When Hoon said this my friend and his regiment (Logistics Corp) were already preparing for the move.
Bumpitty-bump! What's the prospects looking like, Ivan?
Thanks for that Kingsurfer, very interesting.
The Tories have a 5 pt lead in the polls, but thanks to gerrymandering they need something like a 9 pt lead. Crazy.
The key in this poll is this - "The MORI survey of those who describe themselves as "absolutely certain" to vote put Howard's party on 39 per cent, Labour on 34 per cent, and Charles Kennedy's Liberal Democrats on 21 per cent."
If that occurs, we will likely have a hung parliament, in which no party has an overall majority.
It could be very interesting.
Regards, Ivan
Could they at least make a dent in the parliamentary numbers, if not an outright majority?
Will you vote Tory or UKIP? Not trying to start anything; just asking...
I've thought about it and will vote Tory. The UKIP has largely imploded and the Tories are the only ones who are going to move in directions that I agree with - mostly. I am not fond of Michael Howard, but Labour does need to be kicked out.
Regards, Ivan
Yes, crazy indeed. Here are more details on that and various poll leads. Tories only leading among those who will definitely vote. A number of other voters put Blair about three points ahead.
UPDATE 4-Blair calls May 5 UK election as lead shrinks
(Adds Blair announcement)
By Mike Peacock
LONDON, April 5 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Tony Blair confirmed on Tuesday the worst-kept secret in British politics - that an election will be held on May 5 - as polls suggested a real contest for the first time since 1992.
With Iraq weighing heavily on his ratings, Blair put his government's economic credentials at the heart of the campaign.
Confirming the date after visiting Queen Elizabeth in traditional pre-election protocol, Blair vowed to build on eight years of growth to entrench future investment in public services - which he says his Conservative opponents will slash.
"It's a big choice, it's a big decision. The British people are the boss and they are the ones that will make it," he told reporters outside his Downing Street office.
Blair had delayed the long-expected announcement by a day due to the death at the weekend of Pope John Paul.
Public anger over the Iraq war could slash Blair's parliamentary majority - five new opinion polls showed his party has lost support to the main opposition Conservatives.
Embarrassingly, one of the ruling Labour party's candidates, Stephen Wilkinson, said on Tuesday he was defecting to the Liberal Democrats, the only major British party to oppose the Iraq war.
"Who would have thought a Labour government would become a lap dog to George Bush's right wing Republican administration," Wilkinson said.
Conservative leader Michael Howard focused on Blair's perceived Achilles Heel - reduced public trust post-Iraq.
"The choice before voters on May 5 is very clear," he told party supporters. "They can either reward Mr Blair for eight years of broken promises ... or they can vote Conservative.
REAL CONTEST
Surveys in Tuesday's Guardian, Times and Independent newspapers gave Labour a lead of just two or three percentage points. Separate surveys of voters who said they would definitely vote even gave the Conservatives a lead.
If those figures were replicated on polling day, analysts say, Blair would still win a third term but with a much looser grip on parliament. At the previous two elections in 1997 and 2001, Blair easily won triple-digit majorities.
Britain's electoral map, which concentrates constituencies in Labour's urban strongholds, means the Conservatives must win a larger share of the vote than Labour to take power.
The Financial Times said the 5-point Conservative lead in its poll of definite voters would still return Blair to power but with a parliamentary majority slashed from 161 seats to just 27.
If he wins, Blair would make history by becoming the first Labour premier to clinch a third consecutive term, equalling the record of former Conservative leader Margaret Thatcher.
Blair came to power in 1997 after the 1992 vote, which Labour had been widely expected to win, swung to the Conservatives at the last minute.
If Blair's power is weakened this time, he could quickly become a lame duck as he has already stated he will not seek a fourth term.
The biggest fear of Labour strategists, mirroring the polling evidence, is that their core supporters do not bother to turn out.
Blair will visit a key marginal constituency later on Tuesday to ram home that point.
(Additional reporting by Madeline Chambers, Peter Graff)
I think that with a 5 pt lead for the Tories, Labour would be reduced to a majority of 50 which means they would suddenly become more accountable.
I'm predicting Labour to win with a majority of between 90 and 110. A slight dent, but not much more than that.
Or 27 according to the FT. Hmm, I stand by 50.
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