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05/10/2007
Pressure Mounts On Brown To Call Election
Prime Minister Gordon Brown is facing increasing pressure from the Conservatives to call a general election.
Speaking on BBC's 'Question Time' on Thursday, Tory shadow chancellor George Osborne said: "Either we have this election - which the current opinion polls and the state of the Conservative Party suggest we've got a good chance of winning - or he bottles it. That is a pretty extraordinary position for a prime minister to be in after just a few months."
Mr Osborne's comments echoed those of party leader David Cameron, who closed the party's annual conference in Blackpool on Wednesday by challenging Mr Brown to call an election. He said: "Call that election. We will fight - Britain will win."
The comments came as several opinion polls indicated that the Conservatives are continuing to gain on Labour.
An ICM poll conducted for the Guardian newspaper showed that both parties were level on 38%, compared to last month, when Labour had a 7% lead. The poll was conducted on Wednesday and Thursday, following Mr Cameron's conference speech.
Two other opinion polls indicated that Labour was still ahead of the Conservatives. A YouGov poll for Channel 4, which was also conducted on Wednesday and Thursday, found that Labour was on 40%, giving them a four-point lead over the Tories. However, this was a drop of seven points on their lead the previous week.
A Times poll, conducted by Populus on Tuesday and Wednesday, indicated that Labour had 39%, three points ahead of the Conservatives.
However, their lead had been reported as ten points in the same poll the previous week.
(KMcA)
Speaking on BBC's 'Question Time' on Thursday, Tory shadow chancellor George Osborne said: "Either we have this election - which the current opinion polls and the state of the Conservative Party suggest we've got a good chance of winning - or he bottles it. That is a pretty extraordinary position for a prime minister to be in after just a few months."
Mr Osborne's comments echoed those of party leader David Cameron, who closed the party's annual conference in Blackpool on Wednesday by challenging Mr Brown to call an election. He said: "Call that election. We will fight - Britain will win."
The comments came as several opinion polls indicated that the Conservatives are continuing to gain on Labour.
An ICM poll conducted for the Guardian newspaper showed that both parties were level on 38%, compared to last month, when Labour had a 7% lead. The poll was conducted on Wednesday and Thursday, following Mr Cameron's conference speech.
Two other opinion polls indicated that Labour was still ahead of the Conservatives. A YouGov poll for Channel 4, which was also conducted on Wednesday and Thursday, found that Labour was on 40%, giving them a four-point lead over the Tories. However, this was a drop of seven points on their lead the previous week.
A Times poll, conducted by Populus on Tuesday and Wednesday, indicated that Labour had 39%, three points ahead of the Conservatives.
However, their lead had been reported as ten points in the same poll the previous week.
(KMcA)
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