TONY BLAIR and Michael Howard set the stage for one of the most bitter general elections of modern times yesterday as the Conservatives immediately sought to make trust in the Prime Minister a central issue for voters.

Even before Mr Blair had confirmed that polling day would be on May 5, the Conservative leader had begun his campaign with an attack on the “smirking politics” of Mr Blair, saying that he was “already secretly grinning” at the prospect of victory.

Mr Blair swiftly showed that bringing out the Labour vote was his key priority by issuing an instant appeal to supporters, telling them they had to fight for “every seat and every vote”.

Aware that he has a battle to convince Labour voters still seething over the Iraq war, he used an e-mail message to acknowledge that they did not agree with every decision he had made.

He said that the future of the country was “in our hands” and that he needed their help “now more than ever”. In Downing Street after making his announcement, Mr Blair confirmed that Labour’s management of the economy is the centrepiece of his third-term appeal.

He said that voters faced a “fundamental choice” to entrench stability and invest in the public services. But the people “are the boss” and they were the ones who would make the choice.

Charles Kennedy started his campaign with a tour of five cities, asserting that his party would address people’s hopes and not their fears over the coming four weeks.

He told supporters gathered at a rally in Newcastle upon Tyne: “For a country like ours with so much going on, a fairly prosperous society, a fairly stable society, a society and a country by international standards measures up well, we are going to be positive, we are going to be ambitious about our country and what we have to offer our country.

“So I am not going to spend these next few weeks talking Britain down.”

Mr Howard also told voters that they faced a clear choice: “They can either reward Mr Blair for eight years of broken promises and vote for another five years of talk. Or they vote Conservative to support a party that’s taken a stand and is committed to action on the issues that matter to hardworking Britons.”

The Labour manifesto will be approved today at meeting of the Cabinet and National Executive Committee before being published next week.

The current session of Parliament is likely to end tomorrow night, and Mr Blair and Mr Howard and Mr Kennedy will clash for the last time in Parliament before the election at Question Time today.

The three leaders are set to appear on the same stage on television for a pre-election grilling on the BBC programme Question Time, it emerged last night. They will not discuss issues with each other but they will answer consecutively.

Mr Blair has followed tradition by refusing a formal debate with opposition leaders. This will be the first time they have all appeared together for such a session.

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