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The Tories May Be in Real Trouble

An election that was supposed to be a legacy-making victory for May is now something much closer to a political near-death experience for her.
jeremy corbyn

Tom Goodenough reports the results of another poll that shows real danger for the Conservatives:

Only a few weeks ago, the polls brought nothing but joy for the Tories. With just six days to go until election day, that’s no longer the case. An Ipsos Mori survey out today cuts the Conservative lead down to just five points. Labour’s support has burst through the 40 per cent mark – rising by six points since Ipsos Mori’s last poll on May 18th.

When May called the election in April, I thought that there might be some protest voting against the ruling party, but like most people I couldn’t quite imagine that Labour could do this well. Much of the collapse in support for the Conservatives can be attributed to the very poor election campaign they have run, but Corbyn has also done much better than I thought he would. It might not be enough to put him in charge of the government, but if that should happen it would be consistent with what we’ve seen before from an electorate that is fed up with the political class and can’t be taken for granted as Cameron did and as May has done. An election that was supposed to be a legacy-making victory for May is now something much closer to a political near-death experience for her.

Alex Massie marvels at how badly she has performed:

Just as [Gordon] Brown was, at least in part, defined by an election he did not call so May seems increasingly likely, as matters stand, to be defined by an election she did. On the occasions she has met journalists and voters, she has talked in nothing but platitudes. So much so, in fact, that you begin to wonder if she suffers some pathological aversion to answering questions. She’s like Brown, but without Gordon’s social graces and breezy joie de vivre. It has been a remarkable thing to witness.

In the closing days of the campaign, May seems to have decided that it is better to say nothing at all to the press, and instead of delivering canned, meaningless answers she is just dodging most interviews. If she does lead her party to a defeat or even a narrow win, she will bear the lion’s share of responsibility for the poor result on account of her unsteady and weak performance in the final weeks of the campaign.

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