London, Jan 4, IRNA – Britain’s major political parties wasted no time to step up pre-election campaigning as the country returned to work Monday following the Christmas and New Year holiday period.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown joined Children’s Secretary Ed Balls in making a school visit in London to highlight extra support for primary pupils, while opposition Conservative leader David Cameron was setting out a draft health manifesto.
With MPs not due to return to parliament until Tuesday, eight members of the shadow cabinet were taking the opportunity to visit marginal constituencies as posters bearing Cameron’s photograph were being erected in 1,000 locations.
On the counter-attack, Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling was publishing a 100-page dossier cataloguing claims that the Conservatives had made billions of pounds of promises without explaining how they can be paid for.
Brown has yet to set a date for Britain’s general elections, which do not have to be called until June 3 but some predictions suggest that it could be held in March although May remains the favourite.
Asked by the BBC, Balls said he did not know the date of the election, adding that he had “no inside knowledges” of prime minister’s thinking about its timing but believed the poll would “probably” come later than early March.
The Conservatives are firm favourites to be returned to power for the first time since 1997, according to opinion polls, but some analysts suggested that there is the possibility of a ‘hung parliament’ with no overall majority.
The Times newspaper reported Monday that concern has been raised that former prime minister Tony Blair’s appearance at the Iraq war inquiry later this month could scupper any chance of Labour winning a record fourth election victory.
It said there was growing criticism within Brown’s inner circle about his decision to hold the inquiry with public hearings in the run-up to the election, given the backlash of public opinion about the war.