Will today be the day that Gordon Brown calls the General Election?

[Gordon Brown]

I am going to call the election today, at about 3.00pm.

[HairyArsedBloke]

I am going to call the election today, at about 3.00pm.

Good - I hope you win.

[Menelaus]

Alternatively II take the following actions ...

1. Listen intently to Labour candidate (after all, for every minute longer they spend trying to sell snake oil to you, that's one less target for them to try to slither their way into - bit of community spirit!)

2. Invite Labour candidate in, offer them tea and hospitality

3. Continue to listen to their (frankly) drivel

4. Then, and only then, when they've been in and sitting in a comfy seat and getting them nicely into the "false-sense-of-security" bring out the details of the time spent in Broadmoor for eating his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.

Surely?

[TimberWolf]

Its got to the stage now where good news on the economy would be bad news for the economy because good news increases Labour's chances.

[fullyautomatix]

The elections will not be held before April. The warm sunshine in May/June will lull the voters into a false sense of security and they will just vote Labour because, well, the sun is shining innit.

Get ready for 4 more years of Brown Turd and his sidekick Darling.

What is the worst that can happen? Taxes raised sky high, more borrowing, sterling collapses, bankers will reward themselves millions more, public sector will grow and absorb all the unemployed and pay 50K +........

[Doggy Styles]

The elections will not be held before April.

Probably right, early-ish April though, before the 2010 Q1 growth figures come out.

[HairyArsedBloke]

I still can't really see it happening.

1) nuLieBore are skint so they can't fight a general election and the local elections seperately;
2) the snot goblin is a coward, he will put it off as long as posible.

However, I would be very happy to be proved wrong.

[Gonzo]

Not today then.

can't he call it today and announce it's the 6th may?? or by calling it does he then have some sort of pre-determined timeframe i.e 30 days from calling the election etc.?

You found the answer I see. Seventeen working days is the absolute minimum between dissolution of parliament and the election.

In theory, Gordon could still call a March 25th election if he does it by next Tuesday but I don't think I can see that happening now.

Probably right, early-ish April though, before the 2010 Q1 growth figures come out.

Hmmm. The upward revision of 2009q4 today makes the slip back into recession in Q1 less likely.

Brown could go to the polls claiming that his policies have well and truly brought the country out of global recession. Which, to be fair, they will have done albeit more slowly than other countries, there will just be the small matter of the legacy of debt to be dealt with.

[Gonzo]

I still can't really see it happening.

1) nuLieBore are skint so they can't fight a general election and the local elections seperately;

The Labour party worrying about spending money they haven't got?

[OwlHoot]

There's a well-argued blog article here :

.. we all know that Brown has done this before: he’s readied his troops and had the printing presses rolling and bottled it. We all know this. But here’s five of reasons why this weekend might be a good time for him to go:

1. The Chancellor has cunningly completely neutered any influence the PM might have had over him. Being a slightly more honest politician than the rest of the nest of vipers at the heart of the Labour Party, he is free to say what he wants at the Budget knowing full well he won’t be Chancellor after the election, no matter which party is in power. Brown may well want to deny him that pleasure.

2. The economy may yet go back into recession for Q1 2010 after all the government stimulus disappeared at the end of 2009, the end of the scrappage scheme and the VAT going back up, thus denying the economy the extra ready cash.

3. A May election would be held just after a whole raft of tax rises kick in, hurting the vital middle-England voters who while being aware of their imposition don’t feel them viscerally yet.

4. The polls are tightening. All the above reasons are likely to widen the polls again.

5. There’s also the Chilcot Enquiry – which, to the best of my recollection, was supposed to be suspended at the point an election is called. Brown is due to appear in a week’s time, and this would guarantee some uncomfortable coverage over the PM’s record in the Treasury denying the military the resources it needed.

..