THE struggle for political power in York and North and East Yorkshire was today kicking into top gear, as the most hotly-anticipated General Election for 13 years loomed.

Campaigning has been launched across the region following Gordon Brown’s confirmation yesterday that the country will go to the polls on Thursday, May 6.

The Prime Minister described the Downing Street announcement as the “least well-kept secret of recent years”, but insisted Britain was on the “road to recovery” and urged voters not to put it “at risk”.

Conservative leader David Cameron said his party offered a “fresh start”, while his Liberal Democrat counterpart, Nick Clegg, claimed only his party presented an opportunity for “real change”.

The announcement signalled the start of more than four weeks of frantic clamouring for votes, with North Yorkshire the scene of some of the key battlegrounds.

One of the major electoral shake-ups will see York split into two constituencies.

Hugh Bayley – who holds a majority of more than 10,000 – will be expected to win York Central, but the quest to secure the York Outer seat, which forms a ring around the city centre, could be a dogfight between the Liberal Democrats and the Tories.

The Conservatives will also have their sights on the new Selby and Ainsty seat, where boundary changes have removed swathes of Labour support from the former Selby constituency.

The decision of Labour’s popular sitting MP, John Grogan, to stand down is also predicted to work in opposition parties’ favour. The reworked Harrogate and Knaresborough seat, currently held by the departing Lib Dem MP Phil Willis, is also seen as an outside chance for a Tory gain. Mr Cameron’s party will also feel confident that current Vale of York MP Anne McIntosh can win in the new Thirsk and Malton constituency.

Meanwhile, the East Yorkshire race could prove intriguing, with Labour having placed the seat among its top 100 targets. Its candidate, Paul Rounding, needs a 6.65 per cent swing to oust sitting Tory MP Greg Knight.

Nationally, the Conservatives need to gain at least 116 seats to win majority control. The UK would see a hung parliament, with no single party having overall control, if Labour lose more than 24 seats but the Conservatives fail to gain enough. Opinion polls have given the Tories a lead of four to ten per cent.