It's that time when the people of Britain get to partake in an event which people in many other countries would give their two legs for, a General Election.
The election MUST be held this year, and the PM gets to choose the date at which it to be held.
Gordon Brown travelled to Buckingham Palace on Tuesday to meet the Queen and ask her permission to dissolve Parliament and hold the General Election on Thursday 6th May. It was, as usual, a formality, with the PM getting the Queen's approval. Parliament will be dissolved this Monday, 12th April.
Labour have won the last three General Election - in 1997, 2001 and 2005 - and it is the first time they have ever won three elections in a row.
But it is unlikely that they will win a fourth term to lead this great nation, especially with the unpopular Brown at the helm.
A major bookmaker has installed David Cameron's Tories the favourties to sweep to power, a hung parliament as the second favourite and a Labour win as third favourite.
If a hung parliament occurs - when no party wins overall control of the Commons - then it is possible that a second election will be held later this year. The last time Britain had a hung parliament was in 1974.
There will also be something new during this election campaign - a series of live televised debates (of the sort already used during elections in North America) between the three main party leaders, Gordon Brown of Labour, David Cameron of the Conservatives and Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats.
The first will take place in a week's time, Thursday 15th April on ITV. It will take place in the North West of England and will focus on domestic affairs.
The next will take place on Sky on the following Thursday, 22nd April, and will take place in the South West of England. It will focus on foreign affairs.
The last will take place on the BBC, again on the following Thursday, 29th April, and will take place in the Midlands. It will focus on the economy.
Each debate will last 90 minutes.
The election itself will take place the Thursday after the last debate.
Almost as soon as Brown told the country the date of the election, the party leaders went on the campaign trail.
On Tuesday, Brown visited a Morrisons supermarket in Rochester, Kent, meeting the public. He was well-received, but was yesterday heckled by a man protesting about the difficulty of getting his children into a state school.
Tory leader David Cameron, meanwhile, yesterday visited the famous Warburton's bakery in Bolton, Greater Manchester to take question from the public.
There are 650 seats in the Commons up for grabs for MPs. Which means that a party will not gain overall control of the Commons unless they win at least 326 seats. If no party reaches that magic number, a hung parliament will occur. If that happens, a SECOND election could be held later this year. The odds on this event occurring are the biggest since 1974.
No matter what happens during the election, the next Parliament will look very different, with 144 MPs standing down. Since World War II, only the year 1945 has seen more MPs standing down.
Election race begins as Brown confirms 6 May date
BBC
UK GENERAL ELECTION 2010
Show your political allegiance (or who you oppose) while on walkies with these squeaky dog toys of David Cameron and Gordon Bown
A Tory Vote For Change poster displayed on the corner of Trafalgar Square as Gordon Brown drives past on his way to Buckingham Palace
Political leaders have headed off on the campaign trail after Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced the UK general election would be held on 6 May.
He said he would seek a "clear" mandate to continue the "road to recovery", as Labour bids for a fourth term.
Exercising his democratic right to protest: Gordon Brown is confronted by angry Ben Butterworth over education policies for Mr Butterworth's son as the Prime Minister leaves Centre Point in London
David Cameron, whose Conservative Party has been ahead in the polls, said they offered "hope" and a "fresh start".
Nick Clegg, leader of the UK's third biggest party the Liberal Democrats, said only they offered "real change".
Shortly after announcing the date at Downing Street, Mr Brown boarded a train and headed to Kent to meet voters at a supermarket in Rochester.
A betting slip listing odds relating to the upcoming general election is held up outside No 10 Downing Street
Mr Cameron headed to a hospital in Edgbaston, Birmingham, before addressing a rally in Leeds while Mr Clegg met young people in Watford.
All three are leading their parties into a general election for the first time.
Vince Cable, Liberal Democrat's shadow Chancellor, helpfully reminds us of his name by standing in front of a load of cables with Liberal Democrat MP for Brent East, Sarah Teather, as they visit the 'Stage Technologies' warehouse in Brent, London
Conservative Party Leader David Cameron with Sir Michael Caine, at the launch of the National Citizen Service at the Conservative Party HQ in London
Announcing the widely-predicted 6 May election date after meeting the Queen, Mr Brown said he wanted a "clear and straightforward mandate" to continue the work of economic recovery.
He said he would be travelling the country telling voters: "Britain is on the road to recovery and nothing we do should put that recovery at risk."
CORRESPONDENT VIEW
Ben Wright
BBC political correspondent
So today we have Labour pitching itself to voters as the party of experience - stewards of an economic recovery that's still fragile, and protector of public services. Gordon Brown is asking the country to stick with him and not risk a switch to the Conservatives. It's an echo of the Tories' campaign in 1992.
But David Cameron is determined not to be the Kinnock of this contest. His speech to party activists was an effort to lift the aspirations of a politically weary electorate. Mr Cameron knows that it's not enough to show that his party's changed, and today promised real economic and political reform. A smaller state is the thread running through his appeal.
Nick Clegg is calling for the c-word too - but change to a new way of doing politics that cracks open the two-party dominance.
So is this a classic choice of change versus more of the same? The opinion polls provide no answer and many voters remain undecided or fed up with politics after the expenses scandal. Add in the televised debates and this feels like a very different sort of contest.
HOW THE PARTIES ARE FARING IN THE POLLS
According to ICM:
Tories: 37%
Labour: 33%
Lib Dems: 21%
He added: "We will not allow 13 years of investment and reform in our public services, to build up the future of these great services, to be put at risk."
Mr Brown also said he would produce a plan to make politics more transparent and accountable.
Stressing his "ordinary middle-class background", he said Labour would "fight for fairness at all times".
Mr Brown said: "We will say to the British people: 'Our cause is your cause'," before adding: "Let's go to it."
Michael Caine and David Cameron look on as student Daryl Brown shows off his printed t-shirt during an election visit to the Globe Academy in Bermondsey, London
Following the campaign trail can be a little tiring as a journalist's guide dog rests during a press conference held by Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown
But Mr Cameron said he offered a "modern Conservative alternative" and his party offered "hope, optimism and change" and a "fresh start".
"It's the most important general election for a generation. It comes down to this. You don't have to put up with another five years of Gordon Brown."
He criticised 13 years of Labour's "big government" and said it was time for the Tories' "big society" instead. He pledged to work for the "great ignored", who he described as "honest hard-working people" who "do the right thing".
"Let's get off this road to ruin and instead get on the path to prosperity and progress," he said.
Addressing party supporters later in Leeds, he attacked Labour's economic record and said the public should "never forget" that Gordon Brown presided over the longest recession in more than 60 years.
Lib Dem leader Mr Clegg said the election campaign would not be a "two-horse race" between the two biggest parties, and people were "crying out for something different".
He said it would be a choice "between more of the same from the old parties... or real change, something different from the Liberal Democrats".
"I think we just need to do something new this time," he added.
Hung Parliament
Political memorabilia in the form of David Cameron toilet paper
Political memorabilia in the form of Gordon Brown toilet paper
The election campaign will be the first to feature live television debates between the three main party leaders in the UK.
BBC, Sky and ITV announced the first 90-minute debates would be on ITV on Thursday 15 April, the next on Sky on 22 April and the last on the BBC on 29 April.
The three main parties - along with a host of other smaller parties - will be fighting for 650 seats, four more than currently exist because of constituency boundary changes.
Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond, the first minister of Scotland, hopes his party will win 20 seats at Westminster. He told the BBC the other parties had "blown the gaffe" by outlining plans for deep cuts.
Monkbar Hotel in York has developed a special election menu. Each dish will recevie a vote when it is ordered, with the winner announced on election night
A man distributes packets of crisps in the main political party colours, blue (Tories), red (Labour) or yellow (Liberal Democrats), outside the Houses of Parliament
"In these circumstances the need for Scotland to have national champions in the SNP is greater than ever before," he said.
He said the SNP would work with Plaid Cymru in the event of a hung parliament to try to secure the best deals for Scotland and Wales.
Plaid Cymru's leader Ieuan Wyn Jones added: "We want to secure the best deal for Welsh communities in this election. And in a situation where no party has overall control in the next parliament then we will be fighting for a fairer funding system for the people of Wales."
In Northern Ireland, Democratic Unionist Party leader Peter Robinson told the BBC the election would be a "defining moment" for Northern Ireland: "It's an opportunity for people to decide whether they want to move forward, whether they want to continue the progress, I think that will be the main issue, though the hung parliament issue will loom large."
But he said, in the event of a hung parliament, the DUP would not be "in hock" to any of the main parties.
To secure an overall majority, a party must win at least 326 seats. If no party succeeds in doing so, the result will be a hung Parliament.
After 13 years in power, Labour enters the election with a notional majority of 48 seats, meaning that a loss of 24 seats would see them lose their overall majority.
Whatever the result, a post-war record number of MPs are standing down at the election - 144 - so there will be a lot of new MPs in the next Parliament.
Parliament will not be officially dissolved until Monday 12 April. MPs will have until close of business on Thursday to get remaining legislation, that the parties can agree on, through Parliament - a process known as the "wash-up".
Commons leader Harriet Harman said this would include all stages of the Finance Bill, which enacts the Budget, and further debate on the Digital Economy Bill, constitutional reform and crime and security legislation.
The government will drop plans for a referendum on changing the voting system and to phase out remaining hereditary peers.
MPs will not return until Tuesday 18 May - later than the traditional start date of the week after the election. A modernisation committee recommended a 12-day gap after the election to allow for a proper induction for new MPs.
Opinion polls timed to coincide with the announcement all suggest a Conservative lead over Labour, by differing margins.
Conservative Party leader David Cameron works on a train from Birmingham to Leeds on the first on day of the 2010 election campagin
An ICM survey for the Guardian indicates the Tory lead has dropped to just four points, with the Conservatives on 37%, Labour on 33% and the Lib Dems on 21%.
However a YouGov poll in the Sun and another by Opinium for the Daily Express suggest the Tories have opened up a 10% lead - the margin David Cameron is likely to need in order to win an outright majority on 6 May. The Sun has the Tories on 41%, Labour on 31% and the Lib Dems on 18%. The Express reports a 39/29/17 split.
news.bbc.co.uk
The election MUST be held this year, and the PM gets to choose the date at which it to be held.
Gordon Brown travelled to Buckingham Palace on Tuesday to meet the Queen and ask her permission to dissolve Parliament and hold the General Election on Thursday 6th May. It was, as usual, a formality, with the PM getting the Queen's approval. Parliament will be dissolved this Monday, 12th April.
Labour have won the last three General Election - in 1997, 2001 and 2005 - and it is the first time they have ever won three elections in a row.
But it is unlikely that they will win a fourth term to lead this great nation, especially with the unpopular Brown at the helm.
A major bookmaker has installed David Cameron's Tories the favourties to sweep to power, a hung parliament as the second favourite and a Labour win as third favourite.
If a hung parliament occurs - when no party wins overall control of the Commons - then it is possible that a second election will be held later this year. The last time Britain had a hung parliament was in 1974.
There will also be something new during this election campaign - a series of live televised debates (of the sort already used during elections in North America) between the three main party leaders, Gordon Brown of Labour, David Cameron of the Conservatives and Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats.
The first will take place in a week's time, Thursday 15th April on ITV. It will take place in the North West of England and will focus on domestic affairs.
The next will take place on Sky on the following Thursday, 22nd April, and will take place in the South West of England. It will focus on foreign affairs.
The last will take place on the BBC, again on the following Thursday, 29th April, and will take place in the Midlands. It will focus on the economy.
Each debate will last 90 minutes.
The election itself will take place the Thursday after the last debate.
Almost as soon as Brown told the country the date of the election, the party leaders went on the campaign trail.
On Tuesday, Brown visited a Morrisons supermarket in Rochester, Kent, meeting the public. He was well-received, but was yesterday heckled by a man protesting about the difficulty of getting his children into a state school.
Tory leader David Cameron, meanwhile, yesterday visited the famous Warburton's bakery in Bolton, Greater Manchester to take question from the public.
There are 650 seats in the Commons up for grabs for MPs. Which means that a party will not gain overall control of the Commons unless they win at least 326 seats. If no party reaches that magic number, a hung parliament will occur. If that happens, a SECOND election could be held later this year. The odds on this event occurring are the biggest since 1974.
No matter what happens during the election, the next Parliament will look very different, with 144 MPs standing down. Since World War II, only the year 1945 has seen more MPs standing down.
Election race begins as Brown confirms 6 May date
BBC
UK GENERAL ELECTION 2010
Show your political allegiance (or who you oppose) while on walkies with these squeaky dog toys of David Cameron and Gordon Bown
A Tory Vote For Change poster displayed on the corner of Trafalgar Square as Gordon Brown drives past on his way to Buckingham Palace
Political leaders have headed off on the campaign trail after Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced the UK general election would be held on 6 May.
He said he would seek a "clear" mandate to continue the "road to recovery", as Labour bids for a fourth term.
Exercising his democratic right to protest: Gordon Brown is confronted by angry Ben Butterworth over education policies for Mr Butterworth's son as the Prime Minister leaves Centre Point in London
David Cameron, whose Conservative Party has been ahead in the polls, said they offered "hope" and a "fresh start".
Nick Clegg, leader of the UK's third biggest party the Liberal Democrats, said only they offered "real change".
Shortly after announcing the date at Downing Street, Mr Brown boarded a train and headed to Kent to meet voters at a supermarket in Rochester.
A betting slip listing odds relating to the upcoming general election is held up outside No 10 Downing Street
Mr Cameron headed to a hospital in Edgbaston, Birmingham, before addressing a rally in Leeds while Mr Clegg met young people in Watford.
All three are leading their parties into a general election for the first time.
Vince Cable, Liberal Democrat's shadow Chancellor, helpfully reminds us of his name by standing in front of a load of cables with Liberal Democrat MP for Brent East, Sarah Teather, as they visit the 'Stage Technologies' warehouse in Brent, London
Conservative Party Leader David Cameron with Sir Michael Caine, at the launch of the National Citizen Service at the Conservative Party HQ in London
Announcing the widely-predicted 6 May election date after meeting the Queen, Mr Brown said he wanted a "clear and straightforward mandate" to continue the work of economic recovery.
He said he would be travelling the country telling voters: "Britain is on the road to recovery and nothing we do should put that recovery at risk."
Ben Wright
BBC political correspondent
So today we have Labour pitching itself to voters as the party of experience - stewards of an economic recovery that's still fragile, and protector of public services. Gordon Brown is asking the country to stick with him and not risk a switch to the Conservatives. It's an echo of the Tories' campaign in 1992.
But David Cameron is determined not to be the Kinnock of this contest. His speech to party activists was an effort to lift the aspirations of a politically weary electorate. Mr Cameron knows that it's not enough to show that his party's changed, and today promised real economic and political reform. A smaller state is the thread running through his appeal.
Nick Clegg is calling for the c-word too - but change to a new way of doing politics that cracks open the two-party dominance.
So is this a classic choice of change versus more of the same? The opinion polls provide no answer and many voters remain undecided or fed up with politics after the expenses scandal. Add in the televised debates and this feels like a very different sort of contest.
HOW THE PARTIES ARE FARING IN THE POLLS
According to ICM:
Tories: 37%
Labour: 33%
Lib Dems: 21%
He added: "We will not allow 13 years of investment and reform in our public services, to build up the future of these great services, to be put at risk."
Mr Brown also said he would produce a plan to make politics more transparent and accountable.
Stressing his "ordinary middle-class background", he said Labour would "fight for fairness at all times".
Mr Brown said: "We will say to the British people: 'Our cause is your cause'," before adding: "Let's go to it."
Michael Caine and David Cameron look on as student Daryl Brown shows off his printed t-shirt during an election visit to the Globe Academy in Bermondsey, London
Following the campaign trail can be a little tiring as a journalist's guide dog rests during a press conference held by Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown
But Mr Cameron said he offered a "modern Conservative alternative" and his party offered "hope, optimism and change" and a "fresh start".
"It's the most important general election for a generation. It comes down to this. You don't have to put up with another five years of Gordon Brown."
He criticised 13 years of Labour's "big government" and said it was time for the Tories' "big society" instead. He pledged to work for the "great ignored", who he described as "honest hard-working people" who "do the right thing".
"Let's get off this road to ruin and instead get on the path to prosperity and progress," he said.
Addressing party supporters later in Leeds, he attacked Labour's economic record and said the public should "never forget" that Gordon Brown presided over the longest recession in more than 60 years.
Lib Dem leader Mr Clegg said the election campaign would not be a "two-horse race" between the two biggest parties, and people were "crying out for something different".
He said it would be a choice "between more of the same from the old parties... or real change, something different from the Liberal Democrats".
"I think we just need to do something new this time," he added.
Hung Parliament
Political memorabilia in the form of David Cameron toilet paper
Political memorabilia in the form of Gordon Brown toilet paper
The election campaign will be the first to feature live television debates between the three main party leaders in the UK.
BBC, Sky and ITV announced the first 90-minute debates would be on ITV on Thursday 15 April, the next on Sky on 22 April and the last on the BBC on 29 April.
The three main parties - along with a host of other smaller parties - will be fighting for 650 seats, four more than currently exist because of constituency boundary changes.
Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond, the first minister of Scotland, hopes his party will win 20 seats at Westminster. He told the BBC the other parties had "blown the gaffe" by outlining plans for deep cuts.
Monkbar Hotel in York has developed a special election menu. Each dish will recevie a vote when it is ordered, with the winner announced on election night
A man distributes packets of crisps in the main political party colours, blue (Tories), red (Labour) or yellow (Liberal Democrats), outside the Houses of Parliament
"In these circumstances the need for Scotland to have national champions in the SNP is greater than ever before," he said.
He said the SNP would work with Plaid Cymru in the event of a hung parliament to try to secure the best deals for Scotland and Wales.
Plaid Cymru's leader Ieuan Wyn Jones added: "We want to secure the best deal for Welsh communities in this election. And in a situation where no party has overall control in the next parliament then we will be fighting for a fairer funding system for the people of Wales."
In Northern Ireland, Democratic Unionist Party leader Peter Robinson told the BBC the election would be a "defining moment" for Northern Ireland: "It's an opportunity for people to decide whether they want to move forward, whether they want to continue the progress, I think that will be the main issue, though the hung parliament issue will loom large."
But he said, in the event of a hung parliament, the DUP would not be "in hock" to any of the main parties.
To secure an overall majority, a party must win at least 326 seats. If no party succeeds in doing so, the result will be a hung Parliament.
After 13 years in power, Labour enters the election with a notional majority of 48 seats, meaning that a loss of 24 seats would see them lose their overall majority.
Whatever the result, a post-war record number of MPs are standing down at the election - 144 - so there will be a lot of new MPs in the next Parliament.
Parliament will not be officially dissolved until Monday 12 April. MPs will have until close of business on Thursday to get remaining legislation, that the parties can agree on, through Parliament - a process known as the "wash-up".
Commons leader Harriet Harman said this would include all stages of the Finance Bill, which enacts the Budget, and further debate on the Digital Economy Bill, constitutional reform and crime and security legislation.
The government will drop plans for a referendum on changing the voting system and to phase out remaining hereditary peers.
MPs will not return until Tuesday 18 May - later than the traditional start date of the week after the election. A modernisation committee recommended a 12-day gap after the election to allow for a proper induction for new MPs.
Opinion polls timed to coincide with the announcement all suggest a Conservative lead over Labour, by differing margins.
Conservative Party leader David Cameron works on a train from Birmingham to Leeds on the first on day of the 2010 election campagin
An ICM survey for the Guardian indicates the Tory lead has dropped to just four points, with the Conservatives on 37%, Labour on 33% and the Lib Dems on 21%.
However a YouGov poll in the Sun and another by Opinium for the Daily Express suggest the Tories have opened up a 10% lead - the margin David Cameron is likely to need in order to win an outright majority on 6 May. The Sun has the Tories on 41%, Labour on 31% and the Lib Dems on 18%. The Express reports a 39/29/17 split.
news.bbc.co.uk
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