<p>The opposition Conservatives and the third major party, the Liberal Democrats, took immediate aim at Brown’s controversial leadership qualities, seen by many pundits as a potential liability for the governing Labour Party.<br /><br />After a final meeting of his cabinet, Brown drove to Buckingham Palace to ask Queen Elizabeth II to dissolve Parliament — a ceremonial step at the start of a month of hectic and highly personalised campaigning that will decide whether Labour wins a fourth consecutive term in office or is forced to return power to the Conservatives after 13 years.<br /><br />Going into the campaign, the Conservatives lead in all of the country’s major opinion polls. But the gap, varying from 4 to 10 percentage points, is considered to be too narrow and volatile to be a reliable indicator of the election outcome.<br /><br />Because of the vagaries in the British election process, the Conservatives need a lead over Labour of about 7 percent to win even a wafer-thin majority in the 650-seat House of Commons. Anything less than that could produce a hung Parliament that could keep Labour in power.<br /><br />After months of speculation that he would choose the May date — almost exactly five years after the last election in 2005, and only three weeks before the statutory expiration of the government’s term — Brown called the election date “the least well-kept secret” in British politics.<br /><br />“A general election will take place on May 6,” Brown said, flanked by government ministers on the steps of 10 Downing Street. “I am asking you, the British people, for a clear and straightforward mandate”to tackle the country’s economic woes and to restore public trust in Britain’s scandal-damaged political institutions, he said. He also pledged support for British troops in Afghanistan.<br /><br />With nearly 30 Labour ministers arrayed behind him, Brown acknowledged, at least indirectly, that his fragile popularity could weigh on Labour’s re-election hopes. <br />“I am not a team of one,” Brown, 59, said. “As anybody can see, I am one of a team.” By contrast, David Cameron, the Conservative leader, seemed eager to seek the election spotlight.<br /><br />For his first campaign speech, Cameron, 43, chose a setting beside Westminster Bridge in Central London, on a sunny spring morning with a view of a the House of Commons across the Thames, and with Conservative election candidates and aides as an enthusiastic audience.<br /><br />Both Labour and the Conservatives have made close studies of the campaign techniques used by President Obama in 2008, and they have taken on American political consultants to give behind-the-scenes advice. A hint of their influence came in Cameron’s remarks beside the Thames, when he stressed the importance of hope, one of Obama’s themes in 2008.<br /></p>
<p>The opposition Conservatives and the third major party, the Liberal Democrats, took immediate aim at Brown’s controversial leadership qualities, seen by many pundits as a potential liability for the governing Labour Party.<br /><br />After a final meeting of his cabinet, Brown drove to Buckingham Palace to ask Queen Elizabeth II to dissolve Parliament — a ceremonial step at the start of a month of hectic and highly personalised campaigning that will decide whether Labour wins a fourth consecutive term in office or is forced to return power to the Conservatives after 13 years.<br /><br />Going into the campaign, the Conservatives lead in all of the country’s major opinion polls. But the gap, varying from 4 to 10 percentage points, is considered to be too narrow and volatile to be a reliable indicator of the election outcome.<br /><br />Because of the vagaries in the British election process, the Conservatives need a lead over Labour of about 7 percent to win even a wafer-thin majority in the 650-seat House of Commons. Anything less than that could produce a hung Parliament that could keep Labour in power.<br /><br />After months of speculation that he would choose the May date — almost exactly five years after the last election in 2005, and only three weeks before the statutory expiration of the government’s term — Brown called the election date “the least well-kept secret” in British politics.<br /><br />“A general election will take place on May 6,” Brown said, flanked by government ministers on the steps of 10 Downing Street. “I am asking you, the British people, for a clear and straightforward mandate”to tackle the country’s economic woes and to restore public trust in Britain’s scandal-damaged political institutions, he said. He also pledged support for British troops in Afghanistan.<br /><br />With nearly 30 Labour ministers arrayed behind him, Brown acknowledged, at least indirectly, that his fragile popularity could weigh on Labour’s re-election hopes. <br />“I am not a team of one,” Brown, 59, said. “As anybody can see, I am one of a team.” By contrast, David Cameron, the Conservative leader, seemed eager to seek the election spotlight.<br /><br />For his first campaign speech, Cameron, 43, chose a setting beside Westminster Bridge in Central London, on a sunny spring morning with a view of a the House of Commons across the Thames, and with Conservative election candidates and aides as an enthusiastic audience.<br /><br />Both Labour and the Conservatives have made close studies of the campaign techniques used by President Obama in 2008, and they have taken on American political consultants to give behind-the-scenes advice. A hint of their influence came in Cameron’s remarks beside the Thames, when he stressed the importance of hope, one of Obama’s themes in 2008.<br /></p>
