SETTING THE STAGE.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19622, 18 May 1929, Page 17

SETTING THE STAGE.

BRITISH ELECTIONS. all records broken. FINAL PARTY PREPARATIONS. i.VXiTHj PSBC9 ASSOCIATION —By *JJStTS:C TSLBORAFH—CS#VaiOHT.) (Received May 17th, 9,40 p,m.) LONDON, May 16. I At the coming General Election there : are now official candidates as follows: Conservative .. .. SSQ Liberal . 509 Labour .. .. 573 Communist .. .. 34 Other Parties .. 35 Total .. .. 1740 j Monday will be nomination day, and polling will take place on May 30th, j With the approach of nomination day it is realised that the General Election of 1929 breaks all records. The estimated cost to the Parties and candidates will total at least £3,000,000. j There is a record number of voters and j candidates, while there have never been so few uncontested seats, never such an avalanche of literature and never- such an orgy of talk. Owing to relaying by broadcasting, there are millions more listeners than at any previous election. Each candidate must deposit £l5O in cash, not cheques, with the returning officer, which will be forfeited if he does not poll one-eighth of the total votes. Mr Baldwin's son Oliver is the adopted Labour candidate for Dudley. To the exclusion of all else the most striking feature of the election is the number of subjects of importance on which' all are agreed. only difference is the remedy. Fewer election results Will be . declared on the night of the poll owing to the heavy increase in voters, and the fact that the polling stations are being kept open later. There will be millions ipore votes to count. As! an instance of the Party activities, a thousand open-air meetings are being held in London alone between now and polling day. Though the Conservatives in the past have not featured in street meetings, Conservative speakers keep the perils of Socialism in the forefront, and are anxious to deal solely with Labour, but are at times forced to deal with the Liberal unemployment scheme. Labour candidates are not so keen on talking of unemployment, but stress world peace, disarmament, a free breakafast table and social reforms. The Liberals, however, are prepared to talk about unemployment.—Australian Press Association.

THE FOREIGN SECRETARY. (Beceived May 17th, 8.5 p.m.) LONDON, May IS. Sir Austen Chamberlain, in a speech at West Birmingham, announced that he accepted Mr Baldwin's invitation to continue as Foreign Secretary, if the Conservatives were returned to power. Service. : , . . ,