ELECTIONS IN BRITAIN

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 70, Issue 69, 3 January 1950, Page 5

ELECTIONS IN BRITAIN

FORECAST OF EARLY DATE NEW PEERAGES A FACTOR i ■ (N.Z.P. A.—Copyright) LONDON, Jan. 2. After the publication of the New Year'honours list, Britain’s national press to-day nredicted an eH rl.v. General Election, probably late -in February or .early in March. The list announced that the Minister of Defence (Mr A. V. Alexander) had been made a viscount, and that four other Labour members of the House of Commons had been made barons. This means that five by-elections will be necessary. '

The “Daily Mail” said: “The General. Election .is almost certain to take place late in February or early in March, Mr -Attlee has given clear evidence of his intentions in the New Year honours list. “Mr Attlee w r ould not allow so many by-elections to occur now, unless he had in mind an early dissolution of Parliament; neither would he ask candidates to fight by-elections merely to sit in Parliament for three months at the most.” The “Daily Express,” which also predicted an election before the spring, described the seats of four of the promoted members of the House of Commons as “safe” ones for Labour. The Labour Party’s newspaper, the “Daily Herald,” said: “Britain may be faced with a General Election in miniature within the next few weeks, but if Mr Attlee decides to go to the country within the next few weeks, no action will be taken to fill the vacant seats.” PREMIER’S MESSAGE TO PARTY REFERENCE TO GENERAL ELECTION THIS YEAR / LONDON, Dec. 31. “Let us go into 1950 determined that it shall be a year of victory for the forces of progress, and that the bitter inter-war years of unemployment, want and injustice shall never return,” said Mr Attlee in a New Year message to the British Labour Movement. “Labour has now reached its jubilee, which falls in momentous, challenging times, coinciding with a year in which the British people will be called on to give their verdict upon the stewardship of the first majority Labour Government. “At this historic time, there is no greater tribute that we could pay to our founders than to return a second Labour Government. We are in good heart, fortified by a fine record of progress and achievement in the face of unprecedented adversity. We have fulfilled every pledge we made in 1945, and from the unremitting efforts of both the Government and the people, a new and more just society is emerging.”

CHURCHILL WARNS SUPPORTERS LONDON, Dec. 31. In a New Year message to the British Conservative Party and its supporters, Mr Winston Churchill called 1950 a year “which historians will certainly mark as one, of the turningpoints in our history.” Warning Conservatives to be prepared for an early General Election, Mr Churchill said: “We have before us the inspiring example of New Zealand and Australia, where the pe'ople have at length succeeded in. ridding themselves of the burden, of Socialism.” COMMUNIST CANDIDATES

c OPPONENT FOR MR CHURCHILL

(Rec. 10.20 a.m.) LONDON, Jan. 2. The Communist Party hopes to have 100 candidates contesting the general elections this year, Mr W. Brooks (national secretary of the Young Communist League) said to-day. Mr Brooks will oppose Mr Churchill.