Frantic campaigning as election enters final stage
By politics.co.uk staff
The tempo of campaigning stepped up a notch today as the general election entered its final stage.
With just three days to go until polling day, leaders of the three main parties crossed paths again at a CitizensUK election ‘assembly’ in London, where each spoke and take questions on the civil society.
Meanwhile, Conservative officials were playing down reports in the Telegraph that David Cameron would resist a coalition deal with Nick Clegg in favour of Unionist MPs.
Meanwhile, reports in the Guardian indicate that Mr Cameron would play chicken with the Lib Dems and Labour, daring them to vote down his Queen’s Speech – the litmus test for having the confidence of the Commons.
Current polls confirm the election is a three horse race. All put Mr Cameron safely in the lead, but without anything like the seats needed to secure a majority.
The Tory leader’s newfound confidence of late is being interpreted by many observers as a thought-through electoral strategy. Officials hope that by behaving as if the momentum was firmly in place, the party can convince the electorate that the Lib Dems are a wasted vote.
The tactic is assumed to result from statistical arguments showing that one of the main reasons the Lib Dems have not been historically successful is that voters do not believe they can win.
Peter Mandelson said Mr Cameron was “desperate to give the impression that he is home and dry and all that’s required is to weigh the Tory vote”.
He added: “The big story of the election is that the Tories blew their lead at the beginning of this race and are still not winning it back.”
Mr Clegg is also attacking the Conservatives, saying it is too dependent on City of London money to ever reform the country’s banking system.
“The Conservative party will never reform the banks and rebuild our economy because they are completely in hock to the City of London,” he is expected to say.
“Only the Liberal Democrats have a positive plan to put money back in the pockets of ordinary people, close the unfair loopholes for people at the top and take on the banks so they never again hold a gun to our heads and put ordinary people out of work.”
Britain goes to the polls on Thursday, May 6th.
