Britain's economy grew far slower than expected in the first quarter

of 2015, official data showed Tuesday, delivering a blow to the government just nine

days before a general election.

Gross domestic product expanded by 0.3 percent between January and March compared

with GDP growth of 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014, the Office for

National Statistics said in a statement. Analysts' consensus had been for a slowdown

to only 0.5 percent in the first quarter, according to Bloomberg News.