Leaders return to campaign trail

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  • xman
    Admin
    • Sep 2006
    • 24007

    Leaders return to campaign trail


    The leaders of the three main parties at Westminster are returning to the traditional campaign trail later in the wake of the historic election debate.Labour will be emphasising their policy on defence and Britain's world role.

    The Conservatives will push their flexible-working policy, while Lib Dem representatives will visit a hospital.

    A poll for the Sun newspaper, carried out after the TV debate, pushed Labour into third place on 28%, with the Lib Dems on 30% and the Conservatives 33%.

    Applying the figures, which came from a YouGov survey of 1,290 people, to the BBC Online election seat calculator results in the following: Labour 276 seats; Conservatives 245 seats; Lib Dems 100 seats; Others 29 seats.

    BBC political correspondent Robin Chrystal stressed it was only one poll, but said if its results were to be replicated it would mark the start of a "very interesting and new political scene".

    'More scrutiny'

    On Saturday, Gordon Brown is expected to tell Labour supporters that the election is now wide open but that Liberal Democrat and Conservative policies will unravel as they come under greater scrutiny.

    The Conservatives will concentrate their campaign on public sector workers with a promise to offer all of them, eventually, the right to ask for flexible working.

    David Cameron is promising to cut red tape and to give people the chance to set up their own co-operatives.

    Mr Brown and Mr Cameron have both indicated they think Nick Clegg performed well in Thursday's televised prime ministerial debate, but senior Labour and Conservative figures are now warning the Liberal Democrat leader to expect a lot more scrutiny between now and polling day.

    A Lib Dem spokesman said 250 people had joined the party via their website immediately after the debate, while bookmakers shortened odds on the Lib Dems making significant gains at the election.

    BBC political editor Nick Robinson said the public reaction suggested the Lib Dems could "dream of doing better" than five years ago - when they won their largest number of seats for 80 years.

    However, he stressed Mr Clegg's performance did not, in itself, mean people were more likely to vote for him or that he would be able to sustain the momentum into the other debates.

    Recent polls suggest the Lib Dems could get anywhere between 17% and 22% of the national vote on 6 May - they got 22% in 2005.


    As well as seeking to hold on to seats in the south of England against Conservative advances, the Lib Dems are targeting seats in cities such as Liverpool, Sheffield and Newcastle where they run those councils.This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.


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