The Hindu : International : Elections: Labour in for a bumpy landing?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 06, 2005

International

International

Elections: Labour in for a bumpy landing?

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, APRIL 5. After weeks of speculation, the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, on Tuesday confirmed that the country would go to polls on May 5 in a general election which the Labour Party has been advised not to take for granted.

In calling the elections one year before they are due, Mr. Blair followed a long-held British convention whereby the Prime Minister has the prerogative to choose the timings of a general election.

On a number of previous occasions, the Prime Minister of the day had had to rue the decision to call an early election.

Rather depressingly for the party, the announcement coincided with four separate opinion polls showing that its lead over the Conservatives — the main Opposition — was shrinking.

The Conservatives were reported to be only three points behind Labour — the narrowest gap so far — amid fears that a low turnout on May 5 could be bad news for the ruling party.

Though Labour was widely expected to return to power thanks to the bitter memories of the Conservative era, even optimistic observers predicted a bumpy landing for the party with its present three-digit majority in the Commons likely to be almost halved.

Credibility problem

The biggest problem for Labour was said to be Mr. Blair's own credibility after he was widely seen to have misled the country over the Iraq war. An opinion poll in The Times on Tuesday showed that 50 per cent of the electorate believed he was "opportunistic"; 51 per cent questioned his judgement in a crisis; and more than 70 per cent thought he had a "secret'' policy agenda.

Recently, Mr. Blair urged people to forgive him admitting that he had become "arrogant''. Many of Labour Party's own MPs regard him as an electoral liability and are reported to have decided not to use his photograph in their election material.

The party's longest-serving MP, Tom Dalyell, has described him as "by far the worst'' Prime Minister he has seen in his 43-year-long parliamentary career.

Despite widespread disillusionment with his policies and style, Mr. Blair is still regarded as a "strong'' leader by the people and, in personal ratings, he is way ahead of his rivals, Michael Howard (Conservative) and Charles Kennedy (Liberal Democrats).

Mr. Blair launched the election campaign, saying his party had a "driving mission'' for a third term.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International