(5/5/05) Elections: He is favored to win a third term as prime minister, though support for his Labor Party has been sliding
By Glenn Frankel and Dan Balz The Washington Post
LONDON - Prime Minister Tony Blair toured the country on the last day of his effort to win a historic third term in nationwide elections today. Polling indicated that his governing Labor Party would triumph, but with a reduced majority that reflects public disaffection with Blair's support for the war in Iraq.
The leaders of the three main parties campaigned feverishly Wednesday in a number of so-called marginal districts that public opinion polls suggest remain up for grabs. Analysts project that 1 million or so voters in those districts hold a key to victory out of a total electorate of between 25 and 30 million.
Blair and senior Cabinet members fanned out across the country, extolling the government's economic record, and its stewardship of public services such as schools and the public health system. At a morning news conference, Blair surrounded himself with Cabinet secretaries in an attempt to woo back disillusioned voters. personally. He warned that voters who were tempted to ''give Blair a bloody nose'' either by abstaining or by voting for the third-party Liberal Democrats could wind up inadvertently helping the Conservative Party return to power.
''We haven't won this thing yet,'' Blair told reporters, ''and in the marginals it is tight and tough.''
Conservative leader Michael Howard, who has been slipping in recent polls, insisted his party could still triumph today. As he campaigned in southeast England, Howard stuck to his basic themes - more police, cleaner hospitals, lower taxes, controlled immigration, school discipline - subjects his tightly controlled campaign has emphasized from the beginning.
Meanwhile, Charles Kennedy of the Liberal Democrats, slowly rising in the polls, insisted that his party represented ''the real alternative'' to Labor and derided Blair's claims that a vote for the third party would ''let the Tories [the Conservatives] in by the back door.''
''Let's have none of this Tony Blair nonsense,'' Kennedy told reporters. ''He has cried wolf one too many times with the British public.''
Each party expressed anxieties about the elections. Labor remains concerned that some supporters, convinced that the party is a shoo-in for reelection, could decide it is safe to register a protest vote against Blair. His ratings among the public on questions about trust have fallen because he is widely perceived to have misled Parliament and the public in taking Britain to war.
But Howard, a veteran politician with little personal charisma, has failed to gain traction. His platform - constructed out of so-called ''dog-whistle issues'' designed to attract Conservative voters without awakening resistance from other parts of the electorate - has proven unpopular with the country at large and driven left-of-center and moderate voters back to Labor.
''If this election was just a referendum on Tony Blair and Iraq then Labor would lose, but Michael Howard is even less popular than Blair is,'' said Peter Kellner, chairman of the YouGov polling group. ''A lot of people will do anything in their power to punish Tony Blair - anything except vote for the Tories.''
The Liberal Democrats have gained support, but even with an increased share of the national vote they may fall short of adding many parliamentary seats because their supporters are widely dispersed.
Despite the last-minute frenzy, there was little sign of the campaign in many parts of Britain. Interviews with voters in recent days underscored both the dissatisfaction with Blair and the sense of having no one else to turn to today.
Chris Christou, who lives in the north London suburb of Enfield, a marginal district, laid out a list of grievances when he was contacted by Labor canvassers over the weekend, from complaints with the National Health Service to his believe that Britain and the United States were bullying other countries. But he said he is likely to stay with Labor. Blair, he said, ''is the lesser of two evils.''
Sal Rashid, who lives in the eastern seaport of Dover, said Labor needed to take more seriously the issue of immigration, but said he would stick with Blair because of Britain's strong economy. ''People might not have agreed with him on the war, but the economy is thriving,'' said Rashid.
''All the European countries envy Britain.''
www.sltrib.com . . .
By Glenn Frankel and Dan Balz The Washington Post
LONDON - Prime Minister Tony Blair toured the country on the last day of his effort to win a historic third term in nationwide elections today. Polling indicated that his governing Labor Party would triumph, but with a reduced majority that reflects public disaffection with Blair's support for the war in Iraq.
The leaders of the three main parties campaigned feverishly Wednesday in a number of so-called marginal districts that public opinion polls suggest remain up for grabs. Analysts project that 1 million or so voters in those districts hold a key to victory out of a total electorate of between 25 and 30 million.
Blair and senior Cabinet members fanned out across the country, extolling the government's economic record, and its stewardship of public services such as schools and the public health system. At a morning news conference, Blair surrounded himself with Cabinet secretaries in an attempt to woo back disillusioned voters. personally. He warned that voters who were tempted to ''give Blair a bloody nose'' either by abstaining or by voting for the third-party Liberal Democrats could wind up inadvertently helping the Conservative Party return to power.
''We haven't won this thing yet,'' Blair told reporters, ''and in the marginals it is tight and tough.''
Conservative leader Michael Howard, who has been slipping in recent polls, insisted his party could still triumph today. As he campaigned in southeast England, Howard stuck to his basic themes - more police, cleaner hospitals, lower taxes, controlled immigration, school discipline - subjects his tightly controlled campaign has emphasized from the beginning.
Meanwhile, Charles Kennedy of the Liberal Democrats, slowly rising in the polls, insisted that his party represented ''the real alternative'' to Labor and derided Blair's claims that a vote for the third party would ''let the Tories [the Conservatives] in by the back door.''
''Let's have none of this Tony Blair nonsense,'' Kennedy told reporters. ''He has cried wolf one too many times with the British public.''
Each party expressed anxieties about the elections. Labor remains concerned that some supporters, convinced that the party is a shoo-in for reelection, could decide it is safe to register a protest vote against Blair. His ratings among the public on questions about trust have fallen because he is widely perceived to have misled Parliament and the public in taking Britain to war.
But Howard, a veteran politician with little personal charisma, has failed to gain traction. His platform - constructed out of so-called ''dog-whistle issues'' designed to attract Conservative voters without awakening resistance from other parts of the electorate - has proven unpopular with the country at large and driven left-of-center and moderate voters back to Labor.
''If this election was just a referendum on Tony Blair and Iraq then Labor would lose, but Michael Howard is even less popular than Blair is,'' said Peter Kellner, chairman of the YouGov polling group. ''A lot of people will do anything in their power to punish Tony Blair - anything except vote for the Tories.''
The Liberal Democrats have gained support, but even with an increased share of the national vote they may fall short of adding many parliamentary seats because their supporters are widely dispersed.
Despite the last-minute frenzy, there was little sign of the campaign in many parts of Britain. Interviews with voters in recent days underscored both the dissatisfaction with Blair and the sense of having no one else to turn to today.
Chris Christou, who lives in the north London suburb of Enfield, a marginal district, laid out a list of grievances when he was contacted by Labor canvassers over the weekend, from complaints with the National Health Service to his believe that Britain and the United States were bullying other countries. But he said he is likely to stay with Labor. Blair, he said, ''is the lesser of two evils.''
Sal Rashid, who lives in the eastern seaport of Dover, said Labor needed to take more seriously the issue of immigration, but said he would stick with Blair because of Britain's strong economy. ''People might not have agreed with him on the war, but the economy is thriving,'' said Rashid.
''All the European countries envy Britain.''
www.sltrib.com . . .
