Labour is ‘highly likely’ to win a landslide majority tomorrow of historic proportions, according to Rishi Sunak’s own candidates. During this morning’s media round, Mel Stride was asked by the BBC if he agreed with Suella Braverman, who wrote in the Telegraph that a near wipe-out looks to be on the cards. ‘I have accepted where the polls are at the moment,’ replied the Work and Pensions Secretary. ‘That we are therefore tomorrow highly likely to be in a situation where [Labour has] the largest majority that any party has ever achieved,’ adding that he thinks it will be ‘much bigger than 1997’.
But just a few hours later Sunak backtracked slightly when asked on ITV if he had given up. Asked whether the election was now about reducing the scale of a Labour victory, Sunak told This Morning: ‘[Stride] wasn’t quite saying that. What Mel was doing was warning of what a very large Labour majority, unchecked, would mean for people,’ Sunak said. The PM added that he’s ‘fighting hard for every vote’. He cited analysis showing that ‘just 130,000 people can make the difference in this election. So, everyone watching who thinks, “Oh, this is all a foregone conclusion”, it’s not.’
This distinction summarises the difficulty which has plagued the Tories throughout this campaign. On the one hand, they want to play up the dangers of unchecked Labour power and make a credible case based on their standing in the polls. On the other, they need to motivate their base, enthuse their activists and convince their supporters that it is still worth going to vote. With less than 24 hours until polling stations open, it remains far from clear that they have been able to get this balancing act right.
Listen to more from James Heale on Coffee House Shots:
Comments