ITN Archive Alternative Election - Campaigning Begins! (1997)

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On 17 March 1997, ITN's Michael Brunson reported on the first day of campaigning in the 1997 General Election, following the announcement by Conservative Prime Minister John Major that an election would be held on 1 May that year. Major and his cabinet colleagues were confident a victory was within reach, spurred on by an endorsement from former prime minister Margaret Thatcher and unperturbed by The Sun's endorsement of Labour leader Tony Blair. Mr Blair himself began his campaign in Gloucester, where he made the case for a "revitalised" Labour Party being able to offer the change he believed people wanted. The Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Mr Paddy Ashdown, stressed that his party would fight a clean fight, rising above any mudslinging from Labour or the Tories, meanwhile Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Alex Salmond looked forward to challenging John Major on the constitutional issues taking priority in Scotland.

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