Animal Virus Snarls British Vote Plans
Prime Minister Tony Blair enjoys a booming economy and enviable public approval ratings, but his decision on whether to call a national election for May has been complicated by the crisis surrounding the foot-and-mouth epidemic on Britain's farms.</br></br>Under the parliamentary system, Blair can choose the date for national elections. He is said to be eager to dissolve Parliament and hold an election quickly, with May 3 as his preferred date. Blair has to decide by Monday, and he's receiving conflicting advice from across the political spectrum. A choice that once seemed almost automatic has suddenly emerged as a crucial test of Blair's political instincts and courage.</br></br>While most members of Blair's governing Labor Party appear to favor a May election, several have joined the call for a delay until the farm crisis has been controlled. William Hague, leader of the chief opposition Conservative Party said today that a May election would be an "arrogant" choice that "puts the interests of one party ahead of the country."</br></br>In the rural communities worst hit by the epidemic, farm groups are bitter at the very thought of a May election. "There's a sense that he's throwing us over the side to advance his own political agenda," said Mike Downham, a livestock farmer in the northern county of Cumbria.</br></br>Rural voters generally don't back Labor, so Blair presumably wouldn't lose many votes if he angered farmers. But if city and suburban voters decide that it is callous to mount a campaign during a crisis, that could cost the Labor Party votes it badly needs, both in the parliamentary election and in the hundreds of city and county elections also scheduled for May 3.