NEXT ELECTIONS IN BRITAIN

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27097, 21 July 1953, Page 9

NEXT ELECTIONS IN BRITAIN

SPECULATION ABOUT DATE

(Special Correspondent N.Z.P.A.) (Rec, 8 p.m.) LONDON, July 20. With both Sir Winston Churchill and Mr Anthony Eden still convalescing from illness, the prospects of an early General Election m Britain are being reassessed, says the “Economist.’’ It says Sir Winston Churchill will have to make a definite decision on the subject within the next few weeks. “If the state of the Opposition were the only test, the arguments of those who want the Government to appeal to the country in the autumn would

have been strengthened,” says the “Economist.” “The Abingdon byelection has confirmed the Government’s popularity, and any chance the Labour Party might have of. reversing the position in the immediate future seems likely to be lost at the Margate conference. / “On the other hand, the Conservative Party cannot take lightly the ill health of its leader and deputy-leader. Labour would certainly label its opponents in an election campaign as a Government of invalids and peers. It could also accuse the Conservatives of cashing in on the Coronation. Above all, the Government is afraid of appearing to be making a convenience of the electorate.

“The voter is supposed to like some clear-cut issue on which to decide, and it is by no means clear that he can yet be given one,” says the “Economist.” “These considerations do not, however, quite settle the issue. That Sir Winston Churchill must at some point within the next few weeks make a clear choice has been tacitly admitted more than once. “This week the Minister of Transport (Mr A. T. Lennox-Boyd), not the least sensitive of politicians, told his constituents that a General Election ‘might become inevitable.’ Sir Winston Churchill himself has made no contribution to the discussion since his Edinburgh speech in the spring, when he denied any intention of holding an election unless the tactics of the Opposition forced* his hand. Opposition “Supine” “At the time this seemed to allow him plenty of room for manoeuvre, but he could scarcely have imagined that the Opposition would remain so supine during the summer. It has of late wholly failed to provide him with anything remotely resembling a casus belli.

“Sir Winston Churchill, however, is not a man to be unduly fettered by a formula, and he has’ probably long since realised that the one he laid down at Edinburgh was inadequate.” the “Economist” says. “He should also realise 1 that the illness of himself and his lieutenant is irrelevant to his problem.

“11l health is an overwhelming reason for reorganising the Cabinet, but it is not a good excuse for putting off an election if Sir Winston Churchill would otherwise decide on one. His choice is between seeking an immediate mandate for a new four-year programme, and starting this autumn on a two to three-year programme designed to carry this Parliament through its full term. The strain which the latter course would impose is not to be underrated, but there is no third choice.

“To think of an election next spring, as some politicians are suggesting, is to toy with the worst of both worlds.” the “Economist” says. “If Sir Winston Churchill is now unlikely to appeal to the country in October, he should be preparing a Queen’s Speech which shows to Parliament and the country a firm intention to continue in office with a constructive purpose.”