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The British Elections Today: Too Close to Call

The candidates


“The traditional two-party system is breaking down in Britain, which makes the outcome more uncertain” That was the New York Times this morning, admitting that neither they nor anybody else knows who will be the next Prime Minister of Britain when the polls close at 10:00 PM London Time this evening.
          
And in Britain, they aren’t even guessing. In fact, in England, it is a crime that carries a hefty fine and up to six months in prison just to talk about anything, from economics to politics, that might in any way effect the election, on Election Day.     
At the moment, the tallies are just a little bit in favor, by 3 or 4%, of David Cameron holding on to power, and the Tories and their conservative ideals to be swept to another 5 years of power and majority rule in Britain. If that happens, the face of global politics could be changed drastically if David Cameron holds true to his promise to let the people of Great Britain vote on whether or not they would like to remain in the European Union.     
There are seven candidates for Prime Minister at the moment, and they are all running around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to round up the last few votes here and there.     
It is going to be a long few hours for some, as coalitions are made and sweat pours down the suits of politicians. The reality is that even after this whole thing is over, after all the votes are cast, and everything is done, there is only a one in ten chance that we will have a winner. In reality it will probably be days or even weeks before someone, probably Cameron, or his arch rival Ed Milliband, the Labor shadow minister who is so hardball he unseated in own brother, who will stand in Buckingham Palace at the end of it, receiving instructions from the Queen, to be Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.           
The Election is so close, that even in Vegas, where over 100,000,000 dollars have been bet, there still has not been declared an official front runner.


Andrew C. Abbott

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