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Election shadow over Labour meet

LONDON: The seaside resort of Bournemouth was on Sunday teeming with political and media junkies as the annual conference of the Labour Party got underway with only one question on everyone’s mind: will he? Or won’t he?

There was a “stampede”, as one commentator put it, to read Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s lips amid a frenzy of speculation that he was likely to announce a snap election as early as next month to take advantage of the party’s lead and his own high ratings in opinion polls.

Reports, quoting party sources, suggested that an election could be held on October 25 but Mr. Brown refused to be drawn into the controversy insisting in a BBC interview that he was simply “getting on with the job”.

But he left the pundits guessing by not ruling out an election.

Asked why was he not prepared to kill speculation, he said: “There’s been speculation all the time but I think people know that over these summer months I just got on with the job.” His remarks came a day after his close aide and election coordinator Douglas Alexander said the party was ready for an early poll.

“There have been significant donations in recent weeks….we have been working and we will be ready whenever the Prime Minister decides to call the election,” he told The Guardian.

A general election is not due until 2009, but Mr. Brown, who took over party’s leadership from Tony Blair in June, is keen to get a popular mandate to fend off criticism that he lacks democratic legitimacy.

And there is a growing view in the party that with the Tories in disarray this is the best time for him to go to the people.

Opinion polls give Labour a healthy lead over the Tories who, until a few months ago, were seen as the party-in-waiting under their young leader David Cameron.

Mr. Brown’s handling of a series of difficult situations such as the London-Glasgow terror plot and the foot-and-mouth crisis has boosted his ratings, delivering a blow to Mr. Cameron’s hopes.

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