General election fever is focused on the date of the general election. But the Orange Party believes the announcement when Bottling Brown names the day, is a key event. At last the struggling Supreme Leader becomes impotent. Clues have been hidden but the call has to come sooner rather than later.
All dates are now critical. No one breaks wind without an election rumour in the air. But dates on the election trail are hard to find. Team Brown has an election to win, draw or lose depending on which push poll and newspaper is believed.
Weary voters have had enough. How many more PMQs can Bunkered Brown duck out of with lame excuses, leaving Hattie to be pulverised by Hague?
Money markets are waking up in a cold sweat having Brown nightmares. A stage-managed TV debate, neatly styled "a prime ministerial debate" to stuff Salmond's SNP, roughly pencilled in for April 15, 22 and 28, is set to bore the pants of voters.
The Orange Party has said before - New Labour is useless at running the country but a dab hand at running dirty election campaigns. Team Brown will take no prisoners and take no chances.
Spinners will want the shortest possible campaign proper. Strategist will not take the risk of poster boy Dave up against a grisly old has-been for too long, no matter what the spinners and fishy polls say.
Cash-strapped New Labour doesn't have the funds to fight a lengthy formal campaign. The Ashcroft non-dom row was sour grapes, as cash-rich Tories make inroads in marginals with Cashcroft cash.
Mike Smithson over at politicalbetting makes the point today that leadership perceptions are important no matter what the dodgy push polls say. So who will break out into a sweat?
Tories swooning over freshly scrubbed up Dave's polished performance. Tribal New Labour trying to talk up a lamentable leader to make a silk purse out of haggard Brown. LibDems left wondering whatever happened to Wonderboy Clegg.
The key is Brown's last roll of the dice on budget day, with March 24 a likely suspect. But setting the date now would give the game away over the date of the election.
Skimming through the Political Guide for Geeks, the 2008 budget was delivered on March 12, announced on February 1, 39 days ahead. Last year Darling's budget was delivered on April 22, announced on February 12, 69 days ahead of time.
But the budget date is still under wraps with only a vague "sometime in March" for Darling Mandy to pull a fast one on Brown Balls.
Bully-Boy Brown has lost its legs. Dodgy non-dom spinners are flogging a dead horse. Brown's BBC has thrown Tories a few digital bones to try to keep them sweet. Brown is set for a chat with Chilcot pals denying a war even took place on his watch. Fishy push polls with dodgy weightings are a joke. Will strategists wait until the next 'event, old chap' rears its ugly head.
Anyone who thinks the economy will spin itself into a remarkable recovery is living in cloud cuckoo land. With unemployment the lagging indicator of a dire economy set to get worse, the sooner the election is called for New Labour the better.
The cat and mouse election call game in the gift of a prime minister is set to continue.
But the Electoral Commission states quite clearly: "The current Parliament ... will cease to exist at midnight on Monday 10 May 2010. A general election to elect the new Parliament must be held by no later than Thursday 3 June 2010."
Parliament can be dissolved at any time with a prerogative act of the Crown. Dissolution can occur even in the recess. At a stroke, business is suspended until parliament is summoned again.
The Palace of Westminster becomes a wilderness. All politicians and hangers-on are booted out. A no-go area for party politicking to curry favour.
Strict broadcasting rules kick in with the broadcast media forced to stick to strict impartiality guidelines. The BBC will be forced to give equal coverage to opposition parties, marking the end of Brown's BBC. 'Toenails' Robinson will be out in the cold after all the hard work put in to keep pals in power.
Civil servants will keep a beady eye on any minister who tries to sneak in a bit on the political side with party puffs dressed up as "government information".
MPs up for election become mere mortals as PPCs. The country will be run by an unelected prime minister who isn't even an MP.
The current election flavour of the month is May 6, just 28 days before the deadline set by law. But May 6 means parliament would be either proroged or dissolved at least 24 days earlier, by April 12, just after the Easter hols. Yet strangely, the parliament website is keeping tight-lipped over the date of the Easter Recess.
Bottling Brown may wait until after the Easter hols to cling on until the bitter end and bugger the consequences. Why not announce the election around the last day of the parliamentary spring term, just after budget day, around Thursday March 25, or use the Easter Recess to announce the date?
The bogeyman is Glorious St George's Day, April 23, with crucial GDP growth figures out for Q1. Will spinners gamble on the "good news" of another rigged recovery or risk the country slipping back into recession depression? An election on April 22 would wipe out that risk.
April 22. May 6. June 3. Whatever. It's the announcement date which is important and that has to happen sooner rather than later.
Angry? Frustrated? Tired and Emotional? You bet. The Orange Party is waiting to book a regular trip to Cuba before Castro pops his clogs and the US hurricane sweeps in, to meet up with the odd rightie and old leftie ...
Foot Note: Time to raise a glass to left-wing old timer and tireless CND campaigner with a true sense of social justice, Michael Foot who died today. And listen to the bullshit hypocrisy of New Labour paying tribute to a passionate supporter of state ownership and pulling out of EEC membership who belonged to a long lost Labour Party which finally died with John Smith.
Foot did not wear a 'Donkey Jacket' at the Cenotaph. Someone was taking the Michael. It was a rather natty duffle coat to keep out the bitter cold. All part of the 1981 spin.
Mid picture: Private Eye cover
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