From: clarinews@clarinet.com (WILLIAM B. RIES)
Newsgroups: clari.biz.finance.personal,clari.news.europe,clari.news.election,clari.biz.economy.world,biz.clarinet.sample,clari.biz.top
Followup-to: biz.clarinet.sample
Subject: British citizens vote in closest election in 20 years
Keywords: personal finance, election, politics, non-usa economy, economy
Date: Thu, 9 Apr 92 8:52:10 PDT
Location: great britain
ACategory: financial
Slugword: britain-election
Priority: major
Format: regular
X-Supersedes: <britain-electionU2A91015ae@clarinet.com>
ANPA: Wc: 759; Id: z3611; Sel: gbfpe; Adate: 4-9-1150aed; V#: 1
Codes: yfpergb., ynperxx., yfefrxx.
Note: (also moving general newswires)

	LONDON (UPI) -- British citizens voted Thursday in their country's
closest general election battle in almost 20 years, with final opinion
polls showing the ruling Conservatives and the opposition Labor Party
neck and neck.
	Voter turnout was reported brisk. The sunny, mild spring weather was
expected to encourage many of the record 43.7 million eligible voters to
head to the polls.
	Surrounded by packs of cameramen and reporters, Labor leader Neil
Kinnock, Tory leader Prime Minister John Major, and Paddy Ashdown, head
of the Liberal Democrats, voted early in the day, all expressing
confidence the outcome would be in their favor.
	A record number of candidates, 2,925 in all, were running,
representing 93 parties, including such groups as the Jolly Small
Brewers, Return Capital Punishment and the Forward to Mars.
	A final batch of opinion polls in Thursday's national papers put the
Conservatives and Labor almost even with the gap closing between the two
parties. The eve-of-poll surveys suggested the outcome could be a hung
Parliament with neither main party winning a majority in the 651-seat
House of Commons.
	The polls showed a last-minute swing from Labor to the Conservatives,
with three surveys putting the parties equal on 38 percent. A fourth
survey gave Laborur three-point lead.
	Throughout the intense campaign, which has centered on domestic
issues, opinion polls have shown Labor slightly ahead of the
Conservatives, but lacking a large enough margin to be assured of a
decisive victory.
	Support for Britain's third largest party, the Liberal Democrats,
estimated at 20 percent in Thursday's newspaper polls, has grown over
the campaign, positioning it for a possible king-making role.
	If the poll results were replicated in Thursday's election, a hung
parliament would result -- either leader might then seek to form a
minority government with the backing of the Liberal Democrats and other
smaller parties.
	But the Liberal Democrats have insisted their price for support would
be a firm commitment to proportional representation in future elections
which neither Kinnock nor Major support.
	If victorious, the Tories would be the first party to win a fourth
consecutive term since the Napoleonic era. For a majority in the House
of Commons, Labor must win 97 seats, a 9 percent swing among voters that
has not been achieved since 1945.
	With 9.4 percent unemployment and bankruptcies at record levels, the
British economy was the main issue of the campaign. Voters also were
concerned about the free National Health Service and the quality of the
education system. International topics were largely ignored.
	The Conservatives, emphasizing their experience, have assured voters
that the stage is set for recovery. Labor, declaring ``it's time for a
change,'' blamed the Tories for the worst recession since World War II.
	Personal taxes were a focal point of the debate on the economy. Labor
said it would increase taxes for the higher-paid workers while exempting
the lowest-paid from income tax. The Conservatives proposed to reduce
tax rates for the lowest paid and promised annual reductions for all
taxpayers.
	The Liberal Democrats, promising a fresh approach to government, have
vowed to raise income tax 1 percent to improve education.
	For the Conservatives, Thursday's election is the first in 33 years
without former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as a candidate. Thatcher
was ousted in party power struggle in November 1990. Major, waging his
first campaign as head of his party, has had the difficult task of
establishing himself as a leader in his own right without repudiating
the Thatcher legacy.
	During his year and half in office, Major has attempted to make his
party more ``caring'' on social issues. But the Tories remain committed
to free market economics, privatized industry and less government
control of health and education. Labor would reverse many Tory reforms
by reasserting central control over schools and hospitals.
	In the 1987 election, which gave Thatcher a third term as prime
minister, the Conservatives received 42.2 percent of the vote and Labor
30.8 percent with Liberal-Social Democrats alliance taking 22.6 percent.
	In Scotland, the major issue has been whether the country should have
a federal parliament with tax-raising powers or even break away from the
United Kingdom, becoming completely independent.
Xref: sparky clari.news.gov.international:263 clari.news.politics.people:65 clari.news.issues.civil_rights:41 clari.news.election:276 biz.clarinet.sample:1216