GATESHEAD, Feb 13: British Prime Minister Tony Blair declared on Sunday he has the "passion and hunger" to fight an expected May election and win a third straight term in power for his Labour Party.

In a major speech to Labour's spring conference, however, Blair warned that the main opposition Conservatives could yet snatch victory "by the back door" if Labour supporters fail to turn out and vote in big numbers.

"My political insight is the same... I have the same passion and hunger as when I first walked through the door of 10 Downing Street" after the 1997 election, Blair said. But he warned: "The Tories may be a mess, their policy incoherent ... But they have a strategy. Not power by the front door, but by the back. Spread disillusion and cynicism... Don't underestimate it."

"What it means to us is this: we take nothing for granted. Not one vote. Not one seat. We go out and earn every vote, every seat as we work towards earning a majority." Blair went on to stress: "I said no complacency in 1997. I said no complacency in 2001. I say it again now: no complacency."

Labour, the Conservatives and the smaller but up-and-coming Liberal Democrats are shifting into full campaign mode as Blair is expected to call a general election for May 5.

Opinion polls are pointing to a Labour victory, raising fears among Labour strategists that Labour supporters might take the outcome for granted and not bother going out to vote - thus opening the door to a Tory win.

Those worries hark back to the 2001 election, when the number of Labour voters was, for the first time, smaller than the number of registered voters who didn't cast ballots at all.

Blair dropped no hints as to when he would call the election, after he said Saturday that "you don't close off your options until you have to". But his warning about complacency in Labour ranks was voiced by all the senior ministers who took the red-carpeted stage at the spring conference in Gateshead, across the River Tyne from News castle in north east England.

The gathering kicked off Friday when Blair hop-scotched the country in a helicopter, unveiling six election pledges on the economy, education, health care, day care, immigration and crime-fighting.

Labour officials billed Sunday's speech as an "intensely personal" address, written by Blair himself. Indeed, parts of it were purposely addressed not at the Labour faithful, but the nation at large.

Blair acknowledged that since the September 11 attacks in 2001, "events have sometimes taken me far from home," and that many did not share his decision to take Britain into the Iraq war two years later. But now, he said, "I'm back, and it feels good... Back with a relentless focus on the job of delivering better lives for Britain's hard-working families - because that is my job, and I never forget it."

Blair, who turns 52 on May 6, went on to play the humility card, saying: "I have learnt some lessons in these past years. This job is a harsh teacher, but it's also a wise one..." "I'm still the same person. Older. A little wiser, I hope. But still with the same commitment and belief." -AFP