Mr Tony Blair promised a second-term Labour government would be "radical" last night after calling the British general election for June 7th. And amid continuing worries about apathy among traditional party supporters, the Prime Minister insisted he did not have to choose between the so-called Labour "heartlands" and the floating voters of Middle England.
However, Mr Blair continued his message of "hope" and "humility" amid early forecasts - based on current apathy indexes - that the turnout at the election could fall as low as 65 per cent.
The Conservative leader, Mr William Hague, insisted he had no interest in encouraging a low poll, as he took his soapbox from Watford to the West Country, promising to carry his campaign to "the real people" rather than "politically correct" commentators, and to force Labour to discuss the euro.
With campaigning already off to a vigorous start, Mr Charles Kennedy was touring in his battle-bus proclaiming the now-traditional Liberal Democrat promise of better public services paid for by "honest" taxes, while the Scottish National Party insisted that only it could speak for Scotland, and Plaid Cymru forecast "the most concerted challenge ever to the supremacy which New Labour has taken for granted in Wales".
Mr Blair said Labour's biggest campaign challenge would be to get across a sense of "mission and purpose" as it went after an unprecedented second, full term in power. In a pre-recorded interview broadcast after his election announcement he told the BBC that that message would have to be delivered with "humility" as the party accepted that its first term had left it with plenty still to do.
That echoed the Prime Minister's earlier admission that after four years "we know we still have so much to do, so many challenges to overcome and we know that though we have striven hard for your trust at all times there have been times of difficulty too".
The confessional tone was appropriate to the setting for his confirmation of the election date. After the traditional 20minute audience with Queen Elizabeth seeking the dissolution of parliament next Monday, Mr Blair abandoned Downing Street in favour of St Saviour and St Olive's School in south London.
The classic New Labour presentational event had the 55strong school choir welcoming Mr Blair with a rendition of Chidi Jarvis's "The Children of the Future" which they had performed for one of Mr Blair's heroes, Nelson Mandela, at Southwark Cathedral last month.
Then - flanked by stained-glass windows bearing the school motto, "Heirs of the past . . . Makers of the future", Mr Blair said his majority in 1997 "was never a reason to do the job quickly but to do it properly for the long term". See also: pages 11 and 16