Britain Headed for the Finish Line

As Neil Kinnock burst exuberantly into Darlington's Dolphin Center gymnasium, 1,000 supporters jumped up with a whoop. His right fist pumping air like a boxer who has just knocked out the champ, the Labor Party leader strode to the podium to accuse the Conservative government of creating a "divided kingdom," with islands of affluence surrounded by poverty. Campaigning in Edinburgh, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher responded that economic prosperity would "vanish like a dream" if Labor were elected. "Personal abuse," she added disdainfully, "signals panic."

The Labor Party was anything but panicky, though, as the campaign moved toward Thursday's election. Unlike its effort under Michael Foot four years ago, Labor under Kinnock has waged a slick campaign that had its leaders exuding confidence. "We are closing fast," claimed Kinnock. Indeed, some polls did show the Tory lead sagging. A Gallup survey last week revealed support for the Conservatives dropping by four points, to 40.5%, compared with Labor's 36.5% and the Social Democratic-Liberal Party Alliance's 21.5%. Thatcher nonetheless seemed destined to become the first Prime Minister in this century to win three consecutive terms. "There's no doubt whatsoever that the Tories are maintaining a 7%-to-8% lead," said Robert Waller of Harris Research, polltakers for the Conservatives, whose figures projected a 40- to 50-seat government majority in the 650-member House of Commons. "Labor's won the campaign, but Thatcher's going to win the election," predicted Robert Worcester, managing director of the MORI polling firm, whose latest survey gives the Tories 43% of the vote to Labor's 32%. "But it will narrow enough in the final days to give the Tories the queasies."

The government already has them. "We've run a miserable campaign," conceded a prime-ministerial colleague. One factor was the heavy security for the Prime Minister, the target of recent threats by the Irish Republican Army. She has been surrounded by plainclothes police in bulletproof vests, and her schedule has been kept secret until the last moment.

Some senior Conservatives accused Party Chairman Norman Tebbit of poor organization, arguing that the government failed to control the issues and too often campaigned defensively. Other Tories fretted that Labor's advertising, notably the ten-minute television broadcasts allotted free to each party, was superior. One program, a profile of Kinnock by Hugh Hudson, director of the Oscar-winning Chariots of Fire, portrayed the Labor leader as compassionate toward the young, old and disabled while tough on militants in his own party. Shortly after it was shown, Kinnock's rating as an "impressive campaigner" shot up 19 points.