Phoney war ends as Brown names election date (News Feature)

Apr 6, 2010, 13:56 GMT

By Anna Tomforde, dpa =

London (dpa) - Behind the studied smile, Gordon Brown has good cause to be nervous: The election he called Tuesday for May 6 is for him the first real test of public opinion since he took over the top job in British politics from Tony Blair nearly three years ago.

Brown gained the premiership without a vote or a leadership contest in June, 2007, after Blair was forced to bow out early following a trail-blazing, and sometimes turbulent, 10-year stint in Downing Street.

Pressure and repeated attempts at mutiny from within the ruling Labour Party, fuelled by growing anger over the Iraq war, accelerated Blair's demise.

Lacking the charisma of his predecessor, Brown, 59, has never been a popular leader.

On Tuesday, as if to underline that he is not without support, he surrounded himself with his entire cabinet as he made his election announcement on the steps of Downing Street.

'I'm part of a team,' Brown declared, even attempting a joke when he said the election date had been one of the 'worst-kept secrets' in British politics.

Brown well knows that, after dismal personal popularity ratings and recent outspoken attacks on his character, he is facing an uphill battle to stage what one commentator said would be 'an amazing political comeback.'

Meanwhile, his Conservative challenger, 43-year-old David Cameron, called the media to trail him on his jogging route outside his home in the affluent London district of Notting Hill, confidently stressing his relative youth and image of a 'modern Conservative.'

A fresh-faced Nick Clegg, the equally youthful Liberal Democratic leader, emerged to pronounce that the 2010 election in Britain would 'not be a two horse race.'

Queen Elizabeth II, meanwhile, took the unusual step of flying by helicopter from Windsor Castle near London to Buckingham Palace for an audience in which Brown would formally ask the head of state to dissolve parliament.

As time was of the essence, the 83-year-old monarch wanted to make sure she was well prepared to receive 'her' prime minister over a cup of coffee, palace officials said.

The formality and set piece ritual put in motion Tuesday are part of centuries-old rules which place the right to call an election in the hands of the prime minister of the day - even though feverish speculation over the date will in fact have paralyzed government activities for weeks and months before.

A British prime minister has a minium of 17 working days to call an election within a five year-term. Brown delayed his decision until exactly four weeks before polling day, firing the starting pistol for a short and sharp election campaign.

Brown had been much criticized for 'dithering' in the autumn of 2007, when he shied away in the last minute from calling an election.

But his strategists believe that his hesitation then may have worked to Brown's advantage.

With his previous experience of 10 years as Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer, Brown had been instrumental in enabling Britain to weather the worst economic recession in 60 years, they claim.

His international efforts to avert a collapse of the global financial system in 2008, which included calling an emergency summit of Group of 20 nations in London a year ago, will help Labour, his strategists believe.

They hope that Brown's economic expertise will make up for his lack of personal popularity, which has not been helped by recent allegations of Brown's ill-tempered 'bullying' of Downing Street staff.

The economy is seen as the central issue of this election, with immigration a close runner-up.

But the incalculable risk of voter alienation, fuelled by last year's damaging scandal over the abuse of parliamentary expenses, remains a big unknown and a chief worry for all parties.

About a quarter of the 650 parliamentarians will not stand again as a result of the scandal, making the 2010 election the 'biggest clear-out' in modern times, analysts say.

Opinion polls have consistently shown a steady advantage for the Conservatives, though their lead has dwindled to between 4 and 10 percentage points in recent weeks.

More than ever before, the outcome of Britain's first 'digital election' will be determined by online campaigning and media appearances.

For the first time ever, the leaders of Britain's three main parties have agreed to take part in US-style live TV debates.