A June 7 general election will be announced by the prime minister today.

Tony Blair will use his weekly audience with the Queen to formally request that parliament be dissolved on Friday.

The formal announcement of a June 7 general election, which sets the scene for a month long campaign, is expected later today.

In a break with tradition Blair will not announce the poll against the familiar backdrop of Downing Street but will launch general election 2001 in south London.

In a specially convened cabinet meeting yesterday, the PM told ministers that Labour must show "a sense of humility" with the focus as much on what needed to be done as on what had already been accomplished.

"We are the first to admit we haven't achieved everything we have set out to do," Blair told the cabinet.

Claiming that talk of Labour landslides, "apathy, cynicism and short term tax cuts" are at the heart of the Conservative campaign Blair urged that: "We start form the premise that not a single vote has been cast. Our aim is to set with honesty and humility our record and above all to enthuse people with our vision of the future."

He said Labour's second term agenda was radical and told ministers that they must fight for every vote.

The Tories have claimed that Labour is not so much asking "for a second term, but a second chance".

The Lib Dems, who took the country in their battlebus yesterday, have said Labour have said Labour has failed public services and will pledge to give more cash to schools and hospitals.