Britons flocked to the polls in a general election today that could end 13 years of Labour rule and thrust the small Liberal Democratic Party into a decisive role as kingmaker, according to dpa. Opinion polls have consistently shown that the election could result in a hung parliament, a situation in which none of the two major parties gains an overall majority, requiring the support of the Liberals. If that was to happen, the Liberals could participate in government for the first time in over 70 years. The last election which resulted in a hung parliament took place in 1974, but never lead to any government posts for the Liberals. Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whose political survival is seen as being at stake in this election, cast his vote in his constituency in his native Scotland, flanked by his wife, Sarah. "Good to see you all," he told election workers, managing a smile despite persistent drizzle and grey skies. Brown has made securing the fragile economic recovery the main plank of his bid for a fourth consecutive Labour term. But critics are accusing him of being responsible for Britain's massive budget deficit of 163 billion pounds (242 billion dollars). In a stark reminder of the problems facing a new government, British papers printed a warning from the European Commission that Britain's deficit, expected to reach 12 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2011, could come to exceed that of Greece.
