Election that never was cost Labour £1m

Gordon Brown's decision this month not to call a general election has left the cash-strapped Labour party with a bill approaching £1m, according to the Guardian.

Party officials had sanctioned hundreds of thousands of pounds of expenditure on booking hoarding sites, literature and recruitment of staff, and were at an advanced stage in setting up a media centre to handle daily press conferences.

The cost of detailed polling in marginal seats by Opinion Leader Research - the company run by one of the prime minister's most trusted pollsters, Debbie Mattinson - is also understood to have run to hundreds of thousands of pounds.

The Conservatives are thought to have spent substantially less in the week before the election was called off. It is understood their bill came to less than £200,000.

Meanwhile, Labour candidates in some marginal seats had already printed letters to go out to supporters. One, Martin Linton, who has a majority of 163 over the Conservatives in Battersea, south London, sent out letters to thousands of Labour members and supporters asking for their help.

The Guardian has been told by Labour and union sources that:
· Some three million letters - the first tranche of a series to key voters and supporters - were printed and had to be binned

· Technicians working on communication links at the Conservative party conference in Blackpool were called away by Labour on a contract to work on the election media centre in Victoria Street, London

· Furniture and equipment for the media centre was ordered, and a lorry delivering the equipment had to be turned away on the following Monday

· Hundreds of poster sites booked by Labour had to be pre-paid - the Tories also booked sites and mobile posters which are now being used to campaign for a European referendum

· Staff were recruited to work at union headquarters - notably the GMB and Unite - on campaigns in marginal seats


The cost of the election is certain to be raised when Labour's national executive meets next month. Some members thought Mr Brown should not have considered calling the election.
The party declined to respond to question from the Guardian.

Source: David Hencke, Westminster correspondent The Guardian (Monday October 22, 2007)