The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 1929. THE BRITISH ELECTIONS.

Hokitika Guardian, 15 May 1929, Page 4

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 1929. THE BRITISH ELECTIONS.

In a foitnght’s time the electors of Great Britain will cast,-,the political die. At the moment, all things are said to be possible and there is little of a tangible nature on which to guage passible results. Never before, it is said, has the result been so much in the lap of the Gods of Chance. 'lhere was a great surprise in the New Zealand Elections, and ilist now folk are studying the surprise revealed, by the Queensland Elections But in Great Britain there are forces more marked than were prominent either here or in Quensland, to assist towards

a possible surprise. As a- northern writer puts it, tiio election campaign now in progress at Home presents .certain features that'.wid probably combine to rfender it unique in the annals of such contests One fact is the enormous number of candidates. At the last general election in 1924, 615 candidates tooic the held, of whom 41b were Conservatives and 151 Labourlies. T ins year no less than 1651 noun nations nave been received. 01 them uo4 are conservatives, 5/5 are Labour, and 4/5 Literals. Liu. the complications inirJtlueeU by the, multiplicity oi ..aiKlkiates are in. ini compared witli the confusion due to the recent, extensions of the. franchise. To-day half the population of Britain has the right to vote, and the women hare a majority of millions over the men. In the county of uondon alone they oiunumi or the-men by over half-a-miilion. Of course, there is no'great probability that the women as a body will be attracted by Socialism, or even by the carefully diluted programme which Labour is now submitting to the country But there are very many thousands of women, mostly young, who live or work alone in the cities detached from all traditional influences, and there are quite enough of, them to turn the scale one way or the other in scores of electorates where the results of a contest might have been predicted live years’ ago with some approach to accuracy and certainty. Up to a few months ago it seemed certain that the coming elections would resolve themselves practically into a. .-vtruggle between the Labour Party and the Conservatives, and that the Lierals would be a be to do little more than split the votes, without gaining any material advantage for themselves. But quite recently there lias been a distinct revival of energy and enthusiasm in the Liberal camp, and the unions seem, to have changed perceptably in their favour. One factor In this new sitiin.fi n is the personality ol" Mr Lloyd George, who with all his defects has a strange power ol inspiring his followers with his own fervid convictions. It is noteworthy that his scheme for the expenditure of countless millions of loan money in the at.empt to abolish unemployment has been commended by so rigorous an economic critic as Mr .1. NT. Keynes. Another factor is doubtless the very large fighting fund controlled by Mr Lloyd George, and administered by him at his own sole discretion. But apart from these tilings, for a great variety of reasons, strong journalistic influence is now enlisted on the side of the Liberals. Tt is rumoured that not only the Beaverbronk newspapers, but the Rothcrmcre group ns well, will abandon the Conservatives and clinmnion the Liberals during the elections. Lord Beaverbrook’s papers, more especially the “Daily Express.” have already done all the harm in iheiiyp’vor to Mr Baldwin and his party. But Lord Rotlionncre, at ihe head of the “Dailv Mail” combine, has cot vet definitely declared himself Air Baldwin s enemy, and even tin* report that lie will demand ;i. coalition between Conservatives and Liberals against Labour, as the price of Ids friendship

must be extremely discon I rting to the Government and i.s friends. The personal appeal, however, will acc.unl for a great deal at Home. This will be noticeaoie with the- women folk who are v./ting for the first time. The oil lit of them, will probably not pay a great deal of attention to political records or political programmes. They will make their deiision largely on persona! grounds, ami therein are all the elements for a great, national surprise. Meati.ime, the i lislauglit of the electorates continues with all the extra aid science can supply with ..roadcastmg and talkies. The elections promise a great democratic, upheaval with a surprise result.