No Early Election Mandate For Gordon Brown


by James William Smith - Date: 2007-12-04 - Word Count: 695 Share This!

Prime Minister Gordon Brown had it all planned. He was going to get a mandate from the voters of the United Kingdom. Three months after he took over from Tony Blair as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Gordon Brown was prepared to call an early general election. The next regular general election was scheduled to occur in May 2010. However, this was too long to wait for the man that had been in Tony Blair's shadow for so long. He wanted to achieve his election mandate right away.

So for weeks he had set out to create the terms of the early election announcement. He had declared a troop withdrawal from Basra of 1,000 men by Christmas. The problem with that announcement was that 500 of those men had previously been announced.

Re-announcing policies as if they were new has been a criticism of Gordon Brown in the past. Also, in his haste to announce good news, he did not make the major policy announcement to Parliament, which in the past he had promised to do.

In preparation for an election, he also rushed government spending and budget reports to press. Some of these reports were weeks ahead of schedule. He ordered ministers to position the Labour party in a promotional document to be presented at an election launch. He had even booked a national broadcast event on Tuesday, October 9, 2007. Rumors of an early election were rampant in the British press with the election time frame likely in the first ten days of November.

On Saturday, October 6 , 2007 everything changed. Gordon Brown said that there would be no election in either 2007 or 2008. The Prime Minister said he wanted a chance to show the country his "vision for change" and to develop his policies further. He said, "Over the summer months we've had to deal with crises, we've had to deal with foot-and-mouth, with terrorism, with floods, we had financial crises. Yes, we could have had an election on competence and I hope people would have understood we have acted competently, but what I want to do is show people the vision we have for the future of this country in housing, health, and education. And I want the chance in the next phase of my premiership to develop and show people the policies that are going to make a huge difference and make a change in the whole country itself".

From an early election within a month to no election either this year or next. What happened to Gordon Brown's plan for an election mandate from the United Kingdom voters? The answer can be found in the latest public opinion polls. The news in three separate polls is dismal for the Labour Party. All three polls show the Labour Party trailing. The News Of The World polling data show a Tory resurgence that had Labour trailing by six points in 83 highly-marginal seats vital to securing a win. In a national ballot, this would project in the loss of the Government's House of Commons majority. It would mean a "hung Parliment" with Labour holding 306 seats and the Tories 246.

The opposition parties were quick to criticize the Prime Minister's decision. Tory leader David Cameron has called Gordon Brown's decision a "humiliating retreat" as a result of "great weakness and indecision". Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell accused him of putting "party politics above the national interest".

It looks like an early election would have been a disaster for the Labour Party and Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The weeks of preparation for an election that he did not call make him look weak and indecisive to the United Kingdom and to the world. The next general election is scheduled for May 2010. As a result, Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Labour have time to improve their standing with the public. However, the Iraq war is clearly taking its toll on their political prospects. The ongoing commitment of troops is changing the political landscape in the United Kingdom. As a result, there will be no early general election in 2007, and no election mandate for the Labour Party and Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Related Tags: united kingdom, politics, election, prime minister, gordon brown

James William Smith has worked in senior management positions for some of the largest financial services firms in the United States for the last twenty five years. He has also provided business consulting support for insurance organizations and start up businesses. Mr. Smith has a Bachelor of Science Degree from Boston College. He enjoys writing articles on political, national, and world events. Visit his website at www.eworldvu.com

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