Is Gordon Brown set to call a summer election?
As the rumours about a possible summer 2009 election continue to circulate throughout Parliament there is speculation that a rogue element within the Labour Party is trying to force the hand of Gordon Brown. Markedly, the comments about the general election date are anonymous and none have been attributed to any of Gordon Brown's inner circle or close friends. This leads many to believe there will be no election in 2009 and Gordon Brown will use the full term of his tenure to try and win back the UK voters.
The Labour Party is walking a political tightrope because suggestions are that 2009 may be even worse than 2008 for the UK consumer. There is also speculation that the UK economy could actually move into a depression or at least a very deep recession which may take until well into 2010 or even further to bottom-out. If this is the case then Gordon Brown may well be better off trying to force an election in early 2009 before the situation gets any worse and he loses the impetus of his recent bounce with the voters.
The call for the next general election will be the most important call of Gordon Brown's political career so far.
Share this..
Related stories
September MPC votes for unchanged interest rates
Over the last few months we have seen a three way split in the Bank of England MPC - which sets the base rate for the UK - although the minutes for September's meeting now show a change in attitude. The vote was 8 - 1 in favour of retaining the current level of interest rates with the one committee member who had been looking for a rise now back in the no-change camp. So what next for UK base ra...
Read MoreIs the housing market beginning to turn down?
The Nationwide Building Society has today revealed that UK house prices increased in value by 0.5% in November with signs that demand for UK houses is starting to fall. While the figure could be slightly misleading because the winter period is often a very quiet period for the housing market, many experts believe that 2010 will see further falls in the cost of UK property. So should we be alarmed?...
Read MoreStephen Hester cannot see the green shoots of recovery
The chief executive of government controlled Royal Bank of Scotland, Stephen Hester, has today shot down hopes of a quick turnaround in the UK recovery. Amid suggestions that he did not believe the green shoots of recovery have appeared yet he was unable to give a definitive forecast as to when the Royal Bank of Scotland will return to profitability, instead choosing to suggest that 2009 2010 will...
Read MoreCan Labour afford to keep increasing investment in public services?
In many ways the Labour Party has made a rod for its own back as public spending investment has been one of the central planks of both new Labour and old Labour. This is one of the areas of investment which differentiates the Labour Party from the Conservative party and even though Alistair Darling and Gordon Brown are well aware that investment should be cut in the public sector they very much ha...
Read MoreGordon Brown calls on worldwide co-ordination for economic recovery
There has been a distinct change in the tone of Gordon Brown's speeches over the last few weeks with more emphasis placed on worldwide co-ordination as the best way to inject life into the worldwide economy. There has also been a forthright confirmation that the UK economy is in a worse situation than many had expected and the government of the day had not seen this coming.
We are a...