Britain goes to the polls on Thursday in a general election which it is universally assumed will give the Labour Party a second full term in government for the first time. That is a remarkable achievement for the party and its leader, Mr Tony Blair, which only a disaster could undermine at this late stage. The campaign has amply demonstrated his command of the political agenda and the extraordinary failure of the Conservatives and their leader, Mr William Hague, to stage a comeback. Attention therefore focuses on what Labour proposes to do in a second term, as revealed in its campaign rhetoric.
Education, health, poverty, crime and regional assemblies in England have been in the foreground of the campaign and seem sure to dominate the domestic political agenda over the next parliamentary term. Britain lags behind its competitors and EU partners in these areas, despite Labour's substantial achievements since 1997.
Assuming Mr Blair receives a strong majority, conceivably even a parliamentary landslide similar to four years ago, he will have no excuse if he does not deliver results, buoyed up by what is expected to be a substantial cabinet shuffle to be announced shortly after his victory. He deserves the opportunity to do so. He is fortunate that prudent economic management has given him the opportunity for bold reforms, although they could be inhibited by the commitment not to raise income tax. Pressure has grown to extend regional assemblies to England, in recognition of devolution's success in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and London.
Internationally, the most critical task facing Britain is to resolve its ambiguous relationship with the European Union by joining the euro. The Conservatives' election strategy in concentrating on that issue seems to have backfired; it has not increased their standing in the opinion polls, despite the continuing unpopularity of the common currency and the EU among the British electorate. Mr Blair has not ducked the issue during the campaign, but linked it to his view that engaging with Europe constructively requires a new, more outgoing, definition of Britishness.
The polls show that hostility to the euro is wide but shallow, with a majority of voters expecting the UK will join the currency. It will nevertheless be a major task to hold and win a referendum on it during a second Labour term. From Ireland's point of view, that would be a highly desirable outcome, removing a major source of uncertainty in trading relationships - and assuming another layer of even greater uncertainty is not introduced by a rejection of the Treaty of Nice in Thursday's referendum here.
A major realignment of British politics is potentially heralded in this election and its expected outcome. For the first time in over 100 years the Conservatives' role as a credible opposition party has collapsed. If they do not succeed in changing their leadership and policies the party system could undergo a sea change that would accompany the already profound transformation devolution has brought to the British political scene.
Along with the Conservatives' weakness goes a disintegration of the associated networks of power and privilege so characteristic of Britain in the post-war years. The challenge for a re-elected Labour government will be to substitute a new set of arrangements that can hold Britain together and ensure Labour's continuing predominance.