Westminster a-Twitter over 25 March

For some time there has been a widespread assumption that the British general election will be held on the same day as the local elections in 2010, i.e. on 6 May. But recently I have been hearing rumours that officials are being asked to prepare for a March general election instead, and now Ladbrokes are said to have stopped taking bets for 25 March. The logic behind this is that having chickened out of an election (which he might have won) soon after he was annointed into the premiership, Gordon Brown might want to show that he has some gumption after all. Very Machiavellian, all this posturing, of course — or maybe Mandelsonian. The real likelihood is that the Prime Minister is keeping both options open and will plump for the one that looks the least disastrous. Certainly, several Labour councillors have said to me that they would prefer not to have to defend their council seat on the same day as a general election, in which an anti-Labour swing is likely. And I guess many other activists from different parties don’t exactly savour the prospec of fighting at two levels simultaneously (especially in London). Anyway, the final decision is indeed Mr Brown’s — which only serves to remind us just what a crackpot electoral system we have in this country.