Lib Dems and Labour try to persuade voters to lend support, as Grant Shapps is among ‘big beasts’ who look vulnerable
On a sunny afternoon in the picturesque Hertfordshire town of Berkhamsted, recent graduate Sadie Bond is making an unusual apology to the local Lib Dem candidate, Victoria Collins. Bond says she is going to vote for Collins next month, but feels compelled to disclose her motivation. “It’s tactical, I’m afraid,” she says. “I’ve only ever really known a Tory government and I’m very much fed up with it. Everything feels a bit hopeless.
Alarmingly for Conservative HQ, many polling experts believe the conditions are ripe for a repeat of 1997, when tactical voting benefited Labour and the Lib Dems and cost the Tories dozens of seats, most notably the toppling of Michael Portillo in Enfield Southgate. This time, Shapps is among the big beasts who could suffer their own polling night infamy.Tactical efforts came to little at the last election.
Anyone who has lived through a general election will be used to Lib Dem tactics. Collins’s leaflets have the obligatory bar chart stating “Labour won’t win here”. But what is intriguing over the border in Welwyn and Hatfield is that Lewin and his team have deployed the tactic, too. Their own bar chart declares the Lib Dems “can’t win here”, adding: “Don’t risk it and wake up to five more years of a Conservative government.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Labour and Tories renew clashes in ill-tempered second election debateAngela Rayner and Penny Mordaunt spar over taxes, defence and cost of living as others jostle for attention
Read more »
Campaign catchup: Fake figures, stealth taxes and a speeding Lib DemIn today’s newsletter: The day after Sunak’s dubious £2,000 tax bomb, debate punditry is getting out of control
Read more »
Woman throws milkshake at Nigel Farage on first day of campaigningReform UK leader accuses Tories and Labour of not being ‘genuinely patriotic’
Read more »
Tories’ ‘triple lock plus’ planned tax cut for pensioners a ‘desperate move’ says LabourLabour reiterates claims that pensions will have to be cut to fund Tory idea to scrap national insurance
Read more »
The Guardian view on Starmer’s offer: the gap between Labour and the Tories should widenEditorial: Small campaign pledges risk inhibiting Labour’s ability, if elected, to improve people’s lives
Read more »
Furious Tories turn on Rishi Sunak over D-day commemorations snubPenny Mordaunt criticises absence as ‘completely wrong’ while internal party WhatsApp groups reportedly full of horrified responses
Read more »