The British Prime Minister has called a general election for 7 June. Tony Blair made the announcement at a visit to a girls' school in south London. The announcement follows a meeting with Queen Elizabeth II, in which he requested a dissolution of Parliament.
Yesterday, Mr Blair summoned his cabinet for a Bank Holiday meeting. According to reports, he put schools and hospitals at the top of Labour's campaign agenda along with investment in public services. Conservative Party leader, William Hague, said yesterday that his party could yet defy the polls, which put the Tories up to 20 points behind Labour.
As he launched his general election campaign today, Mr Hague said that he was confident that he would be walking down Downing Street in four weeks' time. Mr Hague said that Labour was not a party looking for a second term, but a party looking for a second chance. He said that Britain had had four years in which class sizes had increased, waiting lists had become longer and taxes had gone up. He said that if people wanted these issues tackled then the election was their chance to do so.
Liberal Democrat leader, Charles Kennedy, also began his party's campaign today. He said that he was confident of being able to capitalise on every opportunity in this election.
