subject: Checking Out The State Of The General Election With Historical Newspapers [print this page] Gordon Brown is expected to visit the Queen today to ask if he can disband the government and start the ball rolling towards a general election at the start of May. It seems as though the government have waited for as long as they possibly can before calling the election, although if truth be told there hasn't really been a good time to call it until now as the country has been gripped in the middle of recovering from one of the worst recessions in its history according to the records in the historical newspapers.
If you believe the polls in the various daily newspapers then it would appear that Labour has a deficit of anywhere between 4 - 10 points to overturn in the month that will lead up to the election. This is more than possible as a quick delve into the archives of historical newspapers at the record office will reveal that parties that have been in power have overturned a point's deficit when it comes to election time.
At the previous election that was fought between Tony Blair and Michael Howard, some reports actually suggested that the Tories might have a lead heading into the election as certain aspects of the latest government had disillusioned the British public. However, when it came to polling day, many voters were hesitant to vote in the Conservatives instead opting to go for the tried and tested Labour government which had steered the country through some troubled times.
A brief look at the historical newspapers will illustrate to you that the Labour party has won the last three general elections in the hands of Tony Blair. Obviously as the party heads into the latest election Tony Blair is not at the helm of the party and instead the country will be voting for a leader which they didn't elect, Gordon Brown. Although initial reports about Gordon Brown taking the helm of the party were met with dismay and shock in certain quarters, even his harshest critics would be hard pushed to deny that the Prime Minister has performed a good job. When the credit crisis hit, he was a steady rock in the face of the adversity and issues that lay before him, and let us not forget that according to historical newspapers this was the largest credit crisis in history.
No-one is quite sure what is going to happen in the next general election, but it certainly isn't as cut and dried as everyone makes it out to be. I wouldn't be surprised if we look back on the historical newspapers in the future and find that Labour have managed to win in for a fourth term.
