Blair Calls National Election for June 7Bouyed by a robust economy and a fat lead in opinion polls, British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Tuesday called a national election that his party is the overwhelming favorite to win. Blair opened the monthlong campaign warning Laborites against overconfidence ahead of the June 7 vote. The main opposition Conservative Party, which has made no headway in opinion polls since Blair's 1997 landslide victory ended 18 consecutive years of Conservative rule, offered voters tax cuts and adamant opposition to joining the European single currency."Though we can take pride in many achievements ... we know we still have so much to do, so many challenges to overcome," said Blair, who chose to make the election announcement at St. Saviour's & St. Olave's Church of England Girls Secondary School. Earlier, Blair went to Buckingham Palace at midday for a 15-minute meeting with Queen Elizabeth II, whose consent he needed to dissolve Parliament and thus set the election into motion. Conservative Party leader William Hague, who was out campaigning Tuesday even before Blair's announcement, said the government had "squandered a huge Commons majority, the goodwill of the people of this country, and the best set of economic conditions any government has ever inherited." The Gallup poll suggests the Conservatives are the feeblest opposition party in half a century, trailing Blair's Labor Party by an average of 23 percentage points in monthly polls since the last campaign. Conservative hopes hinge depend on motivating supporters stayed home four years ago. However, half of the self-described Conservative voters in Gallup's April survey said the party wasn't ready to govern again. The Conservatives suffered their worst election in a century in 1997, polling 30.7% of the popular vote compared to Labor's 43.2%. Labor won 418 seats compared to 165 for the Tories, who didn't win a single seat in Scotland or Wales. In the Parliamentary system, the prime minister does not campaign for a national vote. Blair will be seeking re-election to his Parliamentary seat from Sedgefield in northeastern England. To insure a second term in government, Blair's party needs to win a majority of the 659 members of the House of Commons. |
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