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ELECTION campaigns are fine pieces of political theatre, with stirring lines, dramatic entrances and exits, and plenty of wellchoreographed sword-play. But at the end, in contrast to conventional theatre, there comes a moment of awkwardness, of embarrassment even. It is when the audience has to get involved. The ordinary voter can at least hide behind the secrecy of the ballot. Not so a newspaper like The Economist. As a journal of opinion, and British to boot, it would be strange not to have a view about the British choice; stranger still to keep it to ourselves. So which way do we think votes should be cast on May ist?
The peculiarity of elections is that they tend to be swung more by votes against than votes for. Often, that involves a fine democratic instinct to kick out one set of rascals and give another lot a chance. Occasionally, as in 1992 in Britain, the incumbents are re-elected less on their own merits than for fear of the alternative. In most eyes, Britain's 1997 election looks like falling into the kick-them-out category. Despite a healthy economy, rising standards of living and a prevailing social calm, voters are telling opinion pollsters that they want to kick the Conservatives out after 18 years in office. The prevailing view is that the Tories are a shambles, that their leader is a ditherer, and that some backbench MPS have become corrupt. If the polls are to be believed-all, that is, bar one in the Guardian on April 23rd, (see page Si)Tony Blair's Labour Party is poised to win a landslide victory, with a share of the vote larger even than in its most dramatic success yet, in 1945.
Such an outcome would, to The Economist, be truly peculiar. Not because the criticisms ofthe Tories are unwarranted; despite having many ofthe right ideas about policy, they have recently lost their way. Rather, it would be peculiar because of what it implies about Labour. A landslide would suggest a historic change, a watershed of some sort. Yet no such change or watershed is on offer for Britain. A huge parliamentary majority for Mr Blair would give him a huge amount of power in this country's centralised system despite the fact that he...