Word reaches The Voice that the party has taken out bookings for press conference venues for a general election next year…
…which basically means, as they’re putting their money where their mouth is, that Cowley Street really think it’s a possibility.
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7 Comments
To state the blindingly obvious, Brown isn’t going to call an election that he’s going to lose.
What’s his alternative? Pray that Cameron gets caught up in some scandal? If I were Brown I’d call a snap election as soon as I was elected leader of the Labour party, on the plausible pretext of asking the country for a mandate.
Or one that he can’t afford
Yes Gordon may ultimately decide the support isn’t there – he may even wait until the last minute in 2010 to fire the starting gun. BUT there are many factors in favour of a Brown victory in November 2007, so we must be prepared.
Bear in mind that many of our PPCs will have been selected for less than 12 months and many of our brand new local party organisations will have existed for less than 10. We need to start planning NOW – we may well look very foolish if we don’t.
Hmmm… not convinced by this. How, for example, do they know the date of the 2007 election so clearly that they have booked venues? 2007 may well be a possibility (albeit only a slight one given that Labour is insolvent and has just sacked an eye watering number of campaign workers), but it is pushing it, to say the least, to suggest that we know that it will be held in October, November or December.
Secondly, this date would be enormously advantageous to the Conservatives, who will have published all their policy reviews by then and be able to shout about them, and an early election will prevent anyone from being able to scrutinise them and drown out any internal rows. Meanwhile, Brown won’t have had a chance to get his programme sorted out.
Like I said, it’s possible. It’s also possible that Blair will call one next week. Given the number of false alarms I’ve heard emanating from Cowley Street over the last two General Elections however, you’ll forgive me if I don’t get too excited. They’re just doing what they get paid to do: put the willies up our PPCs.
… and it is, of course, Halloween. 😉
Mmmm – maybe Gordon doesn’t want to end up as the new century’s Jim Callaghan…?