No Election after all

1.00.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Sun 7th Oct 2007

Following the speculation over the last few months, Gordon Brown has wisely decided to put off calling a general election until at least 2009. The hype he created has demonstrated his misjudgement in political matters, even before the opinion polls showed the Conservatives ahead in the marginal constituencies where the election would be won or lost.

Initially, it seemed to be a ruse to unify the Labour Party around their new unelected Leader prior to the Labour Party conference, to avoid any conflicts which might have been damaging to their credibility. But Gordon Brown had hoped the prospect of a general election would destabilise the Conservatives before they had time to agree their future policy on major issues, and thus be marginalised by the electorate if he called an election in November.

But instead, it had the effect of uniting the Conservative Party around David Cameron, despite their differences on policy. By bringing forward his visit to Iraq, Gordon Brown hoped to draw attention away from Blackpool, and get publicity in advance of his Commons statement about the number of troops who would be returning to the UK in time for Christmas. These figures were grossly exaggerated. Hundreds were already here, and hundreds more were based in Germany!

It would have been unwise for opposition parties to show any fear of the outcome, because it would have strengthened Brown's case for an election now, even though Labour are still millions in the red from the last election and may not have the same opportunity to benefit from interest-free loans as in the past! The claim that an election would be enthusiastically welcomed by the participants was far from convincing, and no doubt everyone is relieved that it has been called off.