UK: LONDON: GENERAL ELECTION CALLED FOR 1ST MAY UPDATE
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 ต.ค. 2024
- (17 Mar 1997) English/Nat
Britain will go to the polls on May the first.
The British Prime Minister John Major made the announcement after a special Cabinet meeting and an audience with Queen Elizabeth II.
He asked the Queen to dissolve parliament in early April to pave the way for the general election on May 1.
Labour Leader Tony Blair, whose party has a 20 point lead in the polls, said he was looking forward to fighting the campaign.
The news that British Prime Minister John Major was set to end the tension and announce the election date began to leak out over the weekend.
But the rumour gained credibility when a special Cabinet meeting was confirmed and ministers began arriving at Number 10 Downing St - the Prime Minister's official residence.
After the meeting, Major went to Buckingham Palace for a special audience with Queen Elizabeth II.
He requested her to dissolve Parliament so they could start the election campaign in time for a May the first poll.
He returned to Downing Street to make the announcement.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"Good morning, I would like to formally confirm that I have seen her Majesty the Queen this morning, and sought her permission for a dissolution of parliament and a general election on the first of May. I am delighted to tell you that her Majesty has consented to that. I would expect prorogation of parliament within a few days before the formal dissolution in early April. Parliament will reassemble on the 7th of May for the election of Speaker and swearing in of members, and the Queen's speech will begin on the 14th of May. "
SUPER CAPTION: John Major, British Prime Minister
Major was defiant, despite a 20 point lead by the opposition Labour party in the polls and said victory was well within his grasp.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"(Q At the moment do you accept that you are well behind Labour?)
Well I see what the opinion polls say. I also see what so many of my colleagues say when they come back from standing on the doorstep and talking to people. And I believe that this election is winnable. Not only do I think it is winnable, I think I'm going to win this election, and so are the Conservative Party. We have an 18 year record that I am proud of."
SUPER CAPTION: John Major, British Prime Minister
The May the first date gives the Conservatives, who have ruled Britain for 18 years, just six weeks to make up its huge deficit in opinion polls.
Labour has had its 20 point lead in the polls for months, and there has been no sign of a revival of Conservative fortunes.
Labour Party leader Tony Blair, paying a visit to a south London school, said he welcomed the announcement of the date and was looking forward to fighting the campaign.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"This campaign is going to be about the condition of Britain, the future of Britain, that Britain can be better than this and it will be about how the Conservative Party have let people down, have broken their promises, and about how a new and revitalised Labour Party can get this country going, can make this country better, have better schools, better hospitals, have less violent crimes in our streets, give us the jobs in industry for the future. So you know the longer it goes on, in one sense, for us we can get our message across to the people. "
SUPER CAPTION: Tony Blair, Labour Party leader
In a first for the British electorate, Tony Blair and John Major are expected to meet head to head in a television debate signalling a more American presidential style for this campaign.
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Who's here after watching Sunak's drenching call for the 2024 election?
I’m getting a sense of Deja vu
Major said i think i will win the election...famous last words! He never stood a chance.
He was basically the most boring and unkempt person in the country at the time! 😒
@@jwillk42 Everybody knew he was going to lose. Blair was at least 10% ahead in every opinion poll.
Major knew his party was going to get licked.
If only the electorate in 1997 possessed the knowledge we do now, John Major would have won handily.
Rubbish! Blair won three in a row...and the third time was after the Iraq invasion.
@@kevinlongman007 He crashed the economy, dismembered the United Kingdom and oversaw vast amounts of uncontrolled immigration into the country. I know he won those 3 elections but it was not yet apparent the scale of the damage he would cause. With the knowledge we have today, we would reject Blair.
He was elected by a naive and cosseted population that fell for a campaign that is, today, laughable, looking back on it. He was granted a golden inheritance and destroyed it along with that gargoyle Brown. These are things that, today, are obvious to almost everyone.
@@alexburt6995 The economy crashed in a World wide recession, after 10 years of economic growth after Labour won in 1997 and immigration went up year on year to record levels after the Conservatives won in 2010 not under Labour. As for Scottish and Welsh devoution, that was a manifesto commitment from 1997 so nobody can claim that they did not know that one was coming...
@@kevinlongman007 Ah, but the Conservatives didn't win in 2010 Kev. They had a coalition with the LibDems - not exactly famous for their staunch defence of Britain's borders.
Labour borrowed and spent massively after 2001. They also deregulated the banks and flogged off the gold at the bottom of the market. Had they not done any of these things we would have been in a far better position to weather the storm.
As for manifestos, I'm not contesting what was in them. I'm saying that in 2022 we have the long view on what those policies actually mean - the true, long term implications and consequences of them (something we didn't have in '97).
@@alexburt6995 But immigration continued to go up after the Tories won a majority in 2015 and it was only the covid pandemic which stopped it. As for selling off the gold Brown sold only a small proportion of our gold reserves not the vast majority as the Tories claimed. And the only reason the Scottish Parliament has more powers now is because Cameron gave them those additional powers following the 2014 Independence referendum.