LONDON, April 30, Reuter: British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was widely reported today to have picked June 11 as the provisional date for general elections, when she will be seeking a record third consecutive term in office.
Several newspapers, including the Times, the Independent and Sun, as well as the two main television channels, quoted various sources as saying this was the target date.
However, government officials insisted that the Prime Minister had not made up her mind on an election date. The final decision is like after she has studied the results of local government election next week.
Thatcher does not have to call elections until June 9, 1988 but with opinion polls saying her party well ahead and economic indicators pointing to an economic recovery, she is considered almost certain to call them earlier.
Recent opinion polls have put the conservatives up to 15 points ahead of the nearest opposition and virtually all have given the party the magic 40 per cent support that almost guarantees an overall majority in Parliament.
With pressure for a June poll becoming almost irresistible, party workers have been concentrating on dates.
June 4 has been ruled out because it would mean the government would have served less than four years. Thatcher has made it clear she wants to serve at least four years of her five-year term before calling elections again.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 8, 1987
