ABSTRACT
The general election campaign began on Sunday 8 May when a meeting of senior Conservative ministers and party officials at Chequers considered a Central Office computer analysis of the local elections held three days earlier, as well as the results of two private opinion polls. Although the media judged the local elections as fairly inconclusive, with the Conservatives perhaps looking strongest overall, both the Conservatives’ analyses showed that they had at least a 10-point lead over Labour in terms of votes cast and intending support. The decision to call a general election was clear-cut and most discussion centred around how it could be fitted into the Prime Minister's immediate timetable, which included an EEC summit and a Western economic summit in the United States. Neither could easily be missed without damage to Thatcher's reputation for defending British interests. The decision to dissolve Parliament almost immediately left just thirty-one days of formal campaigning in which the opposition parties could try to claw back some of the commanding Conservative lead.
