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At the end of the final TV leaders debate on Wednesday night, Rishi Sunak appealed to the public not to “surrender” to a Labour government and the tax hikes that will likely follow.
Following the comments on Thursday, the Conservative Party shared a political advert on social media showing three people, including a child, with their hands up in submission.
With just six days left until the entire country goes to the polls, it is clear the Conservatives have nothing to lose in order to avoid conceding a landslide victory to Labour on July 4th.
The Prime Minister’s combative performance in his final showdown with Sir Keir Starmer was seen as his strongest so far during the campaign, and the head-to-head format gave the Conservative leader the chance to corner his rival on a range of issues from immigration to NHS waiting lists.
Conservative strategists have lamented that Mr Sunak had only two opportunities during the election campaign to meet Mr Starmer face-to-face and challenge him on his plans to govern.
“It’s no wonder Labour only wanted to do these things twice and we wanted to do them as many times as possible,” a senior Conservative leader said. “Voters will think Starmer doesn’t know what he actually wants to do if he gets into power, but Rishi clearly has ideas.”
That Conservative strategists are already lamenting missed opportunities speaks volumes about the mood within the party, because too often small moments of success are overshadowed by self-inflicted mistakes.
The party is trying hard to get its strong election campaign on track, but the opinion polls are not moving and Labour holds a commanding 20-point lead over the Conservatives with less than a week to go.
But while CCHQ has shifted its focus to an ultra-defensive strategy to stave off defeat in the run-up to voting day, conservatives on the ground refuse to give in and are now praying for a miracle that the polls are wrong.
“I know everyone is saying the doors don’t feel that bad, but the truth is the doors don’t feel that bad,” the Conservative source said.
“Obviously there are a lot of voters who are still undecided and there’s a good chance they’ll switch to the Conservatives. The question is, can we actually get them to come out of their homes on the Fourth of July and tick the box?”
If opinion polls are to be believed, undecided voters are more likely to vote Labour than Conservative.
Much of this is due to the various gaffes and scandals that have rocked the Conservative campaign over the past five weeks, from Sunak’s Normandy saga to a highly damaging gambling case involving the prime minister’s inner circle.
But Conservative candidates are adamant that there is nothing loving about Starmer and his proposals for the country, and that gives them hope.
“Obviously people are angry at us about a lot of different things, but they’re just as angry at the Labour party,” the Conservative candidate said.
“There’s no rush to vote Labour, it’s a kind of reluctant vote. A lot of people are obviously angry with us, but a lot of people are angry but are more afraid of Labour and so they’re saying they’re going to vote Conservative.”
Other candidates took more dramatic stances. “When the going gets tough, that’s when the strong fight,” said one candidate. “In this election, I feel like I’m fighting for the soul of our country, and I need people to stand up with me!”
The candidate is expected to lose his seat.
The mood in the Conservative Party stands in stark contrast to that of the Labour Party, which is struggling to maintain discipline as the election race enters its final stages and victory appears within reach.
The party has run an extremely cautious campaign from the beginning, carefully edging its way towards the finish line while avoiding last-minute mistakes, and at the same time quietly preparing for the arduous task of taking power.
“The mood has fluctuated from optimism about being on track for a possible victory to anxiety about the prospect of actually taking power and all that entails,” a Labor insider said.
Discussions between senior Labour figures and civil servants have been ongoing for some time as Whitehall prepares for a possible change of government, with Starmer and his senior team expected to dive into diplomacy as soon as the government is formed.
Just days after the election, Mr Starmer, shadow defence secretary John Healey and shadow foreign secretary David Lammy are due to fly to Washington to attend the NATO summit on 9 July.
This moment will be a long-awaited opportunity for the Labour leader to demonstrate his statesmanship and ability to stand alongside world leaders as prime minister.
I Labour is understood to have already considered keeping Karen Pearce as Britain’s ambassador to the US – the Conservatives had tried to replace her with former Brexit secretary Sir Tim Barrow, but the decision to call an election thwarted those plans.
Party officials want to avoid bringing unnecessary instability to the United States and believe Pierce could stay on in office beyond the end of his term next year if he is keen.
A week later, the UK European Political Community Summit at Blenheim PalaceBut the agenda has already been set and it is said there is little chance of Labour changing the proceedings.
Negotiations with Brussels are said to be already off to a good start, with one European diplomat describing Labour’s relationship as “honey on toast” compared with the Conservatives, but concerns remain within Labour about the rise of the right in France and it faces challenges in opening up communication with Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party.
While a difficult foreign policy may be the immediate focus for a future Starmer government, it is the tough domestic situation that is of greater concern.
In particular, the Prime Minister’s self-approved austerity regime has raised concerns that people may quickly turn against the New Labour government if promised “change” is not delivered soon.
A sign of this came on Thursday when the Labour leader said social care reform would take five years, angering care activists.
A former Labour adviser said: I“Starmer has become too preoccupied with election strategy and not with governing the country and I think that’s the problem.”
“It’s not going to be a particularly good honeymoon for him because people are fed up with politics in general, and I think he’s going to be under a lot of pressure pretty soon unless things start to improve.”
There are fears within Labour that Starmer’s lack of political agility and instincts will mean he will waste time dealing with fights that more decisive leaders try to defuse before they escalate.
“My concern is that Trump doesn’t have a clear idea of where he’s going to have to make the tough choices and is a little fragile and could be caught off guard,” the former adviser said. “It’s also because he’s not very political – as we’ve seen in the way he’s taken so long to deal with past issues like Diane Abbott and Gaza.”
But for now, Starmer’s immediate challenge is to lead his party to victory and return to power for the first time in 14 years.
As one Labour activist confessed: “I’ve only begun to have hope in the last day or two, but hope is what kills!”
2024 Election
Rishi Sunak, Sir Keir Starmer and other party leaders are campaigning. I‘s election live blog is your go-to place for everything general election news.
The Reform Party has come under fire after campaigner Andrew Parker was found to have made racist comments about Chancellor Rishi Sunak, with Nigel Farage expressing his “disappointment” over it.
meanwhile, I We’ve summarised the major parties’ pledges on key issues – see our breakdown for NHS, Education and Defence. You can also see each party’s key manifesto pledges broken down by party: Conservative, Green, Labour, Liberal Democrat and Reform UK.