From: clarinews@clarinet.com (WILLIAM B. RIES)
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Message-id: <britain-electionU2A8920ae@clarinet.com>
Subject: British election campaign too close to call
Keywords: non-usa government, government operation, personal finance,
	international, election, politics
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 92 6:22:32 PDT
Location: great britain
ACategory: financial
Slugword: britain-election
Priority: major
Format: regular
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Note: (also moving general newswires)

	LONDON (UPI) -- On the eve of the general election, Britain's
political parties made final appeals Wednesday to undecided voters who
hold the key to one of the country's closest fought campaigns.
	Throughout the intense political battle, which has centered on
domestic issues, public opinion polls have shown the opposition Labor
Party running slightly ahead of the ruling Conservatives, but lacking a
large enough margin to be assured of a decisive victory Thursday.
	Support for Britain's third largest party, the Liberal Democrats, has
grown, positioning it for a possible king-making role in the event of a
hung Parliament in which neither the Tories or Labor win a majority in
the House of Commons.
	In their drive to capture a clear majority in the 651-seat House of
Commons, the Conservatives and Labor are seeking to overturn political
precedent.
	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.
	The latest polls put Labor as much as 3 percentage points ahead. In a
Harris poll for Independent Television News, Labor received 40 percent,
the Conservatives 38 percent and the Liberal Democrats 18 percent.
	In the 1987 election, which swept Margaret Thatcher to a third term
as prime minister, the Conservatives received 42.2 percent and Labor 30.
8 percent with Liberal-Social Democrats alliance taking 22.6 percent.
	The British economy, mired in the worst recession since World War II,
has been the main issue of a campaign. Polls have shown voters are
looking for the party that will lead them to better times while
maintaining the free National Health Service and assuring quality
education.
	The shape of the world following the collapse of communism, European
unity, nuclear proliferation and the environment were rarely mentioned.
	The Tories and Labor have struggled to offer a clear message to
recession-weary voters. The Conservatives have assured voters that the
ground is prepared for a robust recovery, while Labor has blamed the
Conservatives for the economy's poor state.
	Labor leader Neil Kinnock has called the Conservatives ``the
architects of recession'' who should be thrown out of office.
	``We'll be a government for all of the people, a government for the
whole country. We'll give backing to the talents and skills of the men
and women of Britain, and we'll do that to get our country working
again,'' Kinnock said Wednesday in a final appeal for votes.
	``After 13 Tory years of wasted resources and wasted opportunities,
it's now time for a change.''
	In many ways the election is a referendum on the free market policies
of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who oversaw Britain's
economic boom of the 80s and who was ousted as party leader shortly
before the country began sinking into recession.
	With unemployment at 9.4 percent and bankruptcies reaching record
levels, the Conservatives have had a difficult time persuading voters
they can lead the country back to prosperity.
	Prime Minister John Major, fighting his first election as party
leader, said voters had a clear choice ``between a Conservative Party
that looks forward and a Labor Party that looks back.''
	``The Conservatives are the party of free enterprise, the success
story of the modern world. Conservative reforms have been copied around
the world. Labor's philosophy has been rejected around the world,''
Major told a news conference.
	The Liberal Democrats, wary of alienating potential supporters
defecting from the two larger parties, have focused on education and
electoral reform.
	Party leader Paddy Ashdown has promised ``a Britain whose politicians
work with the people, and not to divide them. A Britain with a new style
-- a style of openness and co-operation.''
	Personal taxes have been a focal point of the debate on the economy.
Labor has vowed to raise taxes on the higher-paid people 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.
	Both parties have moved toward the center, with Labor jettisoning its
militant leftist tendencies and the Conservatives moderating their
radical free market policies.
	But the general outlook of the parties remains unaltered. The Tories
are committed to free market economics, privatized industry and less
government control of health and education. On the other hand, Labor
would reverse many Tory reforms by reasserting central control over
schools and hospitals.
	In Scotland, the major issue has been whether the country should have
a federal Parliament with taxing powers or even break away from the
United Kingdom, becoming independent.
	For those who think they can read the mood of the electorate better
than the pollsters, British betting shops were ready Wednesday to take
wagers on almost every possible election outcome.
	Saturday's Grand National steeplechase, the most heavily bet race in
Britain, was not much of a guide. The horse Party Politics was the
winner.
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