Politics

Thirty years ago this week, Parliament was dissolved, and the last Labour government to have a working majority went to the country to appeal for a renewal of its mandate to govern. There is no consensus of opinion on why Harold Wilson lost that election and Edward Heath won, but one widely-held belief is that the final critical swing in the last few days may have been caused by England's defeat by West Germany in the quarter-finals of the World Cup. A government was ejected from office because England lost a football match.

The first poll taken entirely after the call of the election shows a widening of the lead for Labour, and on every measure, Labour gaining even further ground on the Conservatives.

Research Study Conducted for The London News Network

So, no real surprises in Thursday's local elections, though most of the government's worst fears were fulfilled. Ken is Mayor, the Tories are back in business in local government. More surprising, the Liberal Democrats gained their first parliamentary seat under Charles Kennedy's leadership in the Romsey by-election.

Despite popular concerns about the onward rush of technology, says Bob Worcester, 13 million have already gone on line at home

Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way ...?
Q1 The Government is running the Country

Next Thursday will see local government elections being held in most of England, both the high profile contest for London Mayor and the much less heralded contest for more than 3,300 seats on around 150 district and borough councils. Turnout will almost certainly be dire, as it nearly always is these days; last year it was 36% in the shire districts, 31% in the unitary authorities and just 26% in the metropolitan boroughs.