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Journalism of Courage
British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s opinion poll lead was barely dented on Monday, putting him firmly on track to win Thursday’s election despite accusations from the Opposition he deceived Britons on Iraq.
In the final days of campaigning, Blair — seeking a third successive term — is expected to target the Labour Party’s most vulnerable seats. Party officials are concerned that anger over his support for the Iraq war could slash his huge parliamentary majority.
The Prime Minister is expected to team up with finance minister Gordon Brown this week in an effort to try to shift the attention of voters onto Labour’s preferred battleground, the economy, which has been buoyant since he came to power in 1997.
But the death of a British soldier in Iraq on Monday — the 83rd since the start of the invasion — ensured Iraq remained an issue at Blair’s morning news conference.
‘‘It underlines once again the extraordinary work and sacrifice that British armed forces are making in Iraq, to help Iraq become a stable and democratic country that’s no longer a threat to its region and the world,’’ Blair said. ‘‘We should be immensely grateful for the work they do.’’
A YouGov poll for the Daily Telegraph newspaper put Labour on 36 per cent, the main Opposition Conservatives on 33 per cent and the Liberal Democrats on 24 per cent. The poll was conducted between April 29 and May 1.
The figures suggest Blair is on course to win the election but with a substantially reduced parliamentary majority from his current 161 seats. Polls in the past few days have shown Labour with leads of 3to 8 percentage points over the Conservatives.
Britain’s electoral map, which concentrates constituencies in Labour’s urban strongholds, means the Conservatives must win a larger share of the vote than Labour to take power.
Conservative leader Michael Howard, who has repeatedly labelled the Prime minister a liar over Iraq, urged voters to ‘‘hold Mr Blair to account’’ for broken promises and half-truths.
