Now it's war as Blair begins fight of his life

• Polls indicate upcoming election will be closest since 1992

• Labour to make economy focus of campaign

• Shadow chancellor Oliver Letwin unwilling to go head to head with Brown

Key quote

"We’re going to need the help of every Labour supporter - to distribute the leaflets, to talk to voters on the doorsteps and get on those phones" - TONY BLAIR, FROM EMAIL TO SUPPORTERS

Story in full TONY Blair began an immediate drive to mobilise Labour’s grassroots support yesterday after the Queen consented to a 5 May general election, which polls are showing will be the closest fought contest since 1992.

Within an hour of leaving Buckingham Palace, the Prime Minister had sent a plaintive e-mail to his supporters and was on a helicopter to Dorset South, the most vulnerable Labour seat in the country, held by a 153-vote margin.

A MORI opinion poll predicted a hung parliament if Labour’s vote failed to become more motivated - sending Mr Blair into action with his nightmare election scenario already in sight.

As he left 10 Downing Street yesterday, Mr Blair sent an e-mail to all Labour supporters, driving home fears that an election win cannot be taken for granted. "We’re going to need the help of every Labour supporter - to distribute the leaflets, to talk to voters on the doorsteps and get on those phones," he said.

Labour’s secret in 1997 was a huge volunteer army of people desperate to break the 18 years of Conservative government - yet the enthusiasm has now demonstrably sapped. "If you’ve never volunteered to help Labour’s campaign before, make this your first time. If you’re an old hand, we need you now more than ever," he wrote.

One old hand who has finally joined the Labour campaign is Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, who put his war with the Prime Minister aside and started the day’s electioneering with a lecture at the Bloom-berg news agency.

His presence was, in itself, a sign that the economy will be at the centre of Labour’s campaign - and the Chancellor’s growing popularity with the public used as a counterweight to disillusionment with Mr Blair over the Iraq war. Such is Mr Brown’s new influence over the campaign that he had been half-expected to announce the election himself. He took credit for Britain having escaped recession over the past few years - and said the task was continuity. "We will not repeat the mistake our opponents are making of pre-election promises that would put fiscal discipline and the strength of our public services at risk," he said. "Labour will be and will remain the party of economic competence in Britain."

In Weybridge, a seaside town in Dorset South, Mr Blair also rattled off a roll-call of economic triumphs, such as low interest rates and inflation. "This is the time to keep the progress going, move the country forward," he said.

All the Prime Minister’s visits are to be kept secret, ostensibly on security grounds. But in Weymouth, there was a taste of what happens when news leaks: Conservative activists brandishing placards, some reading "BLIAR".

In London, Michael Howard, the leader of the Conservative Party, launched his campaign at a hotel, saying, like Mr Blair, that voters have a clear choice. "They can either reward Mr Blair for eight years of broken promises and vote for another five years of talk," he said, "or vote Conservative". Then, borrowing the language Labour used against William Hague at the last general election, he said: "Blair is already secretly grinning at the prospect of his third victory. Well, you don’t have to settle for that."

Mr Howard is set to get an early campaign boost today with the news that Howard Flight, the maverick Tory candidate, is to give up his fight against the party hierarchy after being dismissed for off-message comments about spending plans. The Scotsman understands that the MP will abandon plans to contest his current constituency as an independent candidate.

Charles Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat leader, kicked off his "third way" campaign, which will see him travel Britain with a positive message that he says will be in marked contrast to Labour-Tory wrangling.

His determination to be upbeat led to a speech in Edinburgh that sounded almost like one the Chancellor made in London earlier. "For a country like ours, with so much going on, a fairly prosperous society, a fairly stable society, a society and a country which, by international standards, measures up - well, we are going to be positive," Mr Kennedy said.

"So I am not going to spend these next few weeks talking Britain down. I am going to be addressing people’s hopes, not playing on people’s fears and that is going to be the positive message from the Lib Dems."

His campaign received an overnight boost when Stephen Wilkinson, a Labour candidate in Lancashire, announced he was defecting to the party - in dismay at Mr Blair’s "authoritarian" style.

With all three main Westminster parties prepared to campaign on largely devolved issues such as education and health, the Scottish National Party said it was the only party that would not come out with an Anglo-centric campaign.

Alex Salmond, the SNP leader, said: "The London-based parties will try to ignore Scotland. They will campaign on policies that apply south of the Border only. But SNP success will shake them up."

The SNP has also announced plans to make 6 April a public holiday in Scotland, to mark "Independence Day" - the date of the signing of the Declaration of Arbroath, celebrated as Tartan Day in the United States.

The Green Party, which has a strong chance of having its first MP elected to Westminster in Brighton, said it was fielding 25 per cent more candidates at this election, on a "people, planet, peace" slogan.

Mr Brown and Mr Blair will tomorrow hold a joint press conference - their first of the campaign - before the Cabinet meets with Labour’s National Executive Committee to decide the manifesto. It is expected to be published next week. Labour’s strategy is to move the election campaign on to issues of the economy - knowing that Oliver Letwin, the shadow chancellor, is deeply unwilling to go head to head with Mr Brown.

Lynton Crosby, the Australian campaigner hired by the Conservatives, intends to be more nimble. His strategy is to use the news agenda as a "hook" for Tory policies - hammering home the relevance of their policies.

All government business must be finished by Monday, or unfinished bills will fall. Ministers unveiled a concession to the Gambling Bill, cutting the number of proposed Las Vegas-style casinos from eight to just one.

Helicopters, jets, precision bombs - just for starters

THE four main party leaders hit the ground running yesterday. Here, JAMES KIRKUP examines how Tony Blair, Michael Howard, Charles Kennedy and Alex Salmond fought "Day One" and how their campaigns are likely to pan out in the run-up to the poll...

BLAIR

THE high-speed, high-altitude start to Tony Blair’s re-election bid yesterday will define Labour’s campaign.

Unlike previous elections, where the Labour leader travelled by bus with an entourage of reporters, only television crews and a single wire-service reporter are being permitted to accompany Mr Blair on his helicopter this time.

Labour says this will allow Mr Blair to stay "spontaneous" and avoid a media scrum that could interfere with his plans to meet "ordinary voters". Critics call it an attempt to shield the Prime Minister from press scrutiny.

On the ground, Mr Blair plans to talk directly to voters at "soapbox" meetings. Alan Milburn, Labour’s campaign chief, has been studying John Major’s 1992 campaign, when the Tory leader pulled off a surprise win after addressing voters at ad hoc gatherings.

Mr Blair’s formal TV appearances will be more Richard and Judy than Newsnight - Labour strategists insist that is the best way to reach swing voters.

HOWARD

MICHAEL Howard will be using many of the tactics of the Prime Minister he hopes to unseat, with air travel featuring prominently in his campaigning.

The Conservative leader even tried to beat Tony Blair to the punch, giving a central London speech to launch his campaign an hour before the Prime Minister returned from Buckingham Palace.

Then he boarded a helicopter to fly to Birmingham and Manchester, a prelude to a plan to criss-cross the country frenetically until 5 May.

Despite insisting they plan a national campaign, the Tories will focus their efforts on swing voters and selected marginal seats, mostly in southern England. Aided by US-bought software, Liam Fox, the party chairman, hopes "precision-bombing" key constituencies will maximise returns in publicity and canvassing.

Under the guidance of Lynton Crosby, their Australian adviser, the Conservatives will concentrate on a handful of simplified key pledges on crime, immigration and tax cuts.

KENNEDY

CHARLES KENNEDY was airborne yesterday, as were the other leaders,though that will be the exception, not the rule for the Liberal Democrat chief. He used a chartered jet to dash from Yorkshire to Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on to Edinburgh, for a press conference.

Soon, Mr Kennedy will come back down to earth. Alone among the major party leaders, he will travel in a battlebus. Lib Dem strategists talk of two distinct campaigns, the "air war" and the "ground war". The aerial campaign fought through the national media will target Labour and the Tories equally.

But the ground war will see the party focus its volunteers, posters and other resources on persuading voters in key seats where the Tories have no hope of victory, trying to persuade wavering voters there is no risk in voting LibDem. And despite denying they have a "decapitation strategy," the Lib Dems are throwing resources into a handful of seats held by senior Tories such as David Davis and Oliver Letwin.

SALMOND

ALEX Salmond, the Scottish National Party leader, believes that he is the party’s biggest asset.

Polls consistently show he is well-liked and trusted among Scots voters, so his face will be the face of the SNP campaign.

The voice, however, will come from Sir Sean Connery, as the former Bond star appeals to voters via a recorded phone message. He may yet appear in person, too.

Yesterday, Mr Salmond launched the SNP’s campaign in the Murraygate pedestrian precinct in Dundee. The city is crucial to the SNP’s hopes at the election - they want to claim Dundee East from Labour, off-setting the possible loss of one seat as a result of boundary reorganisation.

The SNP’s signature appeal to voters is: "Let’s Make Scotland Matter."

The motto reflects the party’s claim that none of the other parties properly cares about Scottish interests, but merely recycle their London-based promises for use north of the Border.