“Now all of us, let’s go to it.” — PM Gordon Brown, April 6, 2010

Queen Elizabeth II has agreed to dissolve Parliament and a national general election has been scheduled for May 6th, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has announced.

In a statement given on the doorstep of 10 Downing Street, Brown also announced that he would run on having pulled the UK through a major financial crisis and a promise of preserving Britain’s notorious social services.

Brown, who took over after Tony Blair left office in 2007, leads the leftist Labour Party. His party was widely expected to be easily defeated by the more right-leaning Conservative Party, but recently the polls have been tightening. (One poll released on April 1st showed Tories rebounding to a 10-point lead, though.)

One major issue in the campaign? The budget deficit, which is proportionately worse than even our record-deficit.