The Michigan Daily-Thursday, May 3, 1979--Page 7
Laborites o
LONDON (AP) - The United
Kingdom's 41 million voters decide
today whether the country will continue
along a moderate socialist path under
the Laborites of Prime Minister James
Callaghan or take a sharp turn to the
right under the Conservatives of
Margaret Thatcher.
Late opinion polls indicated a fairly
even split among the country's voters,
raising the prospect of a ""hung
parliament," with neither the Laborites
nor the Conservatives winning an
overall majority to govern the country
for the next five years.
FOUR LATE polls in today's morning
newspapers predicted Thatcher will
topple Callaghan.
Three polls backed a Conservative
forecast of a 25-to 30-seat majority in
the 635-member House of Commons,
while the established Gallup Poll
predicted the Tories will win only a
slight margin, and probably not enough
for an overall majority.
Before the polls were published, both
Callaghan and Thatcher 'cautiously
claimed their parties would triumph.
"WE HAVE considerable grounds for
cautious optimism" said Thatcher at
her final pre-election news conference
yesterday.
Callaghan closed the campaign after
a visit to his own parliamentary district
in Cardiff, Wales. "If you vote Conser-
vative you'll vote for change with
chaos," he said in a speech last night.
"Tomorrow's vote is going to deter-
mine the shape of our society in the
1980s."
Both leaders must run for re-election
to the House of Parliament in their own
election districts. Thatcher's district is
in suburban London.
CALLAGHAN HAS been fighting an
uphill battle since a no-confidence vote
forced dissolution of Parliament in
March. Thatcher at first seemed con-
fident in her quest to become Europe's
first woman prime minister.
But the polls showed that the early 22
per cent commanding lead of the Con-
servatives, or Tories as they are called,
was steadily whittled down during the
month of campaigning.
The National Opinion Poll published
today put the latest Tory lead over
Labor at seven percentage points,
Marplan Poll at six points and Market
Opinion and Research International
Poll at 5.6 per cent. The NOP figure was
an unexplained switch after its
estimate 24 hours- earlier that Labor
had nosed ahead to a lead of 0.7 of a
percentage point.
r Conservatives; U.K. votes today
THE PARTIES need at least 318 seats Callaghan was heading a minority cent of the work force, with higher per-
to win a majority. Recent polls have government that depended on small centages in Northern Ireland, Scotland
shown the Liberals, who hold 14 seats in parties like the middle-road Liberals and northeast England.
the last Parliament, gaining ground, and the Scottish Nationalists to stay in Taxation also igs been a key issue,
apparently at the expense of the Con- power. Britons are taxed at a minimum of 33
servatives, who hold 282. The election campaign has been per cent, rising to 83 per cent for any in-
The 67-year-old Callaghan, who has dominated by bread-and-butter issues come over $48,000. The Conservative
hinted that this may be his last elec- of prices and jobs. Most prices have formula for repairing the economy in-
toral battle, has said he does not want to doubled in the last five years, and cludes restrictions on labor unions and
find himself in the situation he inherited unemployment statistics show 1.3 reform of the Labor-inspired social
from Sir Harold Wilson in 1976 of having million persons are out of work, 5.6 per welfare system.
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ON ELECTION DAY, British newspapers devote th
Margaret Thatcher. Some newspapers support and s
AP Photo
eir attention to Britain's first female candidate for prime minister,
ome oppose Thatcher, a member of the Conservative party.
nn nur niI ntoP mmn
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noveai aomiy i n cm ms
Labor won in October 1976, with a
five-seat majority over the Tories. That
bare majority was steadily eroded by
deaths and party defection until
TONIGHT AT
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254 of-mus ocor,&pp,
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