Will it be PM Blair?

This has been a long campaign. Six gruelling weeks for the Conservatives and a year for Labour. Labour8217;s chief spin doctor8217;, Peter Mandelson was confident and relaxed as he told journalists that everything had worked to plan, from the time the party launched its mini manifesto8217; last year. David Willets, the Conservative campaign organiser, admitted that the reason that they had decided on a 8220;long8221; campaign was to give Labour time in which to unravel over issues of tax and Europe. Apparently this did not work out as planned.

The one thing that has been repeated over and over through this campaign period is: 8220;There is so little to choose between them8221; or 8220;they are all alike8221; or 8220;how is Labour different from the Tories?8221;. Both parties have promised not to raise income tax, have promised higher funding for health and education, create employment, be tough on crime, 8220;wait and see8221; whether it is in Britain8217;s interest to join the single European currency and strengthen the British union.

The difference between Labour and Conservative policy proposals is that Labour has made a commitment to a minimum wage, to be tough on the causes8217; of crime, to reform the House of Lords, to work towards establishing a Scottish Parliament and a Welsh assembly. Labour8217;s manifesto is unexciting8217;. But the party only says that it wants to make Britain 8220;better8221;. There is no talk of revolution, a word that has been expunged from the Labour lexicon. The party has journey to the middle ground 8212; the radical centre8217; throwing off its millstones and some would say its principles8217; on the way. Its leader, however, says that he speaks in the voice of Clement Atlee and Keir Hardy but in the language of the late 20th century. He says that what Labour offers is 8220;not just a policy programme, but a value system8221;. Opinion polls certainly say that Labour8217;s message has got through.

Throughout this election campaign, commentators have said that Labour has looked like the party of government, and the Conservatives who have been on the defensive. The campaign was led by Labour, and the Conservatives were left defending their failure rather than playing up their successes. In ideal circumstances, they should have benefited from the recent upturn in the economy, but the acrimonious public divisions within the party helped to strengthen Labour8217;s message that it was time for a change.

At the end of the day the campaign was about trust8217;. The Labour Party8217;s message was: Can you still support the Conservatives who after 18 years have 8220;divided the nations, withered the economy and fattened their friends8221;? or can you trust new Labour, whose leader has made a 8220;contract with Britain8221; spelling out what he will do in government and told you that 8220;the buck stops with me8221;. The Conservatives have played on Labour8217;s distant past telling people how bad it was, with striking workers and garbage piled up on the streets.But, the mood for change that seems to have bolstered Labour8217;s campaign has as much or as little to do with what each party stands for, as it does with a desire to just try something a little different.