Though unofficially it started several months ago, the official UK election campaign finally kicked off today with PM Tony Blair calling the general election for May 5 after visiting the Queen in Buckingham Palace to ask for the dissolution of Parliament (this will be on Monday 11 April). News Google so far lists 329 recent UK election reports, but there'll be plenty more soon.
The 2005 election must surely be the most widely anticipated in UK political history, and the campaign has been going on for so long many people seem jaded already. But they shouldn't be - this could be a real white knuckle ride.
Today's four polls confirm that Michael Howard's Tories have markedly narrowed the gap, with one even showing his party leading. Blair and the Labour Party face a tough fight. The odds still favour the incumbents, but the surprisingly large number of journalists who have blithely assumed that 'of course' Labour will win are either severely deluded, badly informed, or quietly backing the Tories (as such comments can only serve to reduce Labour voter turnout).
This is an economic, not political blog. But from time to time I'll be venturing forth with an opinion where I think I can add some value. For now here are some useful election and political links....
The BBC's Election 2005 site is a good place to start, especially for non-Brits trying to make sense of the unique way we do it over here. But for the political heavy weights nothing beats ePolitix. News reports, event diaries, blogs and more.
The Labour Party, Conservative Party and Liberal Democrat websites are useful primary sources for policy statements, press releases, manifestoes and the like. But for a reality check on all that rhetoric and half truths, try Channel 4's new FactCheck site. This could well be the most visited website of the campaign.
Some UK political blogs are worth a look: try Harry's Place, Guy Fawkes, Election Blues, Public Interest, Blogggers4Labour, Election 05, the Edge of England's Sword and the copious links at UK Poli Blogs aggregator for starters. Note also that The Guardian has set up Election 2005 blog. and there are also some on the ePolitix site.
For those who want to follow the opinion polls, try the BBC Poll Tracker, their guide to pollsters' methodology, and of course Anthony Wells' superb UK Polling Report blog, including his one-page summary of all the major polls.
For those wanting to take a punt on the outcome, read Mike Smithson's Political Betting blog first. The Vote 2005 UK Election Prediction chat forum is quite interesting and very active.
For a more exhaustive list of UK election links try the University of Keeles PSR webpage.
Finally, who can ignore GoogleFight? If this is any guide, Tony ought to be worried!
If you put quotes around "Tony Blair" and "Michael Howard", the Googlefight goes somewhat differently :(
Posted by: keith | Wednesday, April 06, 2005 at 02:20 AM