12 SEPTEMBER 2008 WELLINGTON (Pacnews) ------ New Zealand Prime Minister, Helen Clark has set the election date for 08 November, reports NZ Herald

Ms Clark made the announcement at a media conference at the Beehive in Wellington at 12.30pm today. She said the 2008 election would be based on trust and used the conference to outline Labour's achievements in government and vision for the future.

“This election is a choice between a Government which has shown it can make difficult choices and an opposition which flip flops on almost every major issue,” she said. “Labour is ambitious for New Zealand. National is ambiguous on New Zealand.”

PM  Clark listed successes of her Labour-led Government but said much remained to be done. The Prime Minister had previously refused to speculate on the timing of the polls. The last possible date was 15 November, which would have given candidates six weeks on the campaign trail after Parliament expires on  06 October.

The 08 November date will give Labour's 01 October tax cuts time to take effect and give the party enough time to try to claw back National's poll lead……PNS (ENDS)