London, January 05: The funding crisis that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s party faces could threaten its campaign in the upcoming elections, a new report says.
David Blunkett, the former Home Secretary from the Labor party, said the party was going into the election at a greater financial disadvantage than any time since 1983, when the Labor party suffered a landslide defeat.
“We are trying to be careful so we don’t end up bankrupt after the election if this all goes pear-shaped,” Blunkett told The Times newspaper.
He added that Labor lacks the big money and charisma that sustained it during the past years.
David Cameron, leader of the opposition Conservatives, is tipped by opinion polls to oust Brown, who risks becoming one of Britain’s shortest-serving premiers of recent times.
Blunkett, chair of Labor’s election development board, said Labor had a reserved fund of eight million pounds, mainly from trade unions.
This is while, the rival Tories were expected to collect about 25 million pounds for the campaign, the newspaper said.
Labor’s popularity has been undermined by a deep recession, an increasingly unpopular war in Afghanistan and a scandal over politicians’ expenses.
——Agencies