SWING AND A PRAYER
Rishi Sunak makes last-gasp election pitch to thwart Labour landslide with over 100 seats on a knife-edge
The PM is attempting to claw back some of Labour’s 20-point poll lead
RISHI Sunak has made a last-gasp General Election pitch to thwart a Labour landslide — with more than 100 seats on a knife-edge.
The PM vowed to protect Brexit, save families cash in the Net Zero transition and make Britain the best place to prosper.
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He outlined how the UK had become a better place to live under the Tories in 14 years — rejecting any “declinist” attitude in Britain as “total nonsense”.
Mr Sunak also told how the last few years had been tough for people having to deal with the pandemic and rising costs after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
But he said: “Inflation is back to normal, the economy is growing again, wages rising, energy bills set to fall again just next week, and now we’re able to start cutting people’s taxes.
"If people want more financial security, so they can spend money on the things they want to provide a better life for their family, that’s what I will deliver.”
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With polling day on Thursday, Mr Sunak is attempting to claw back some of Labour’s 20-point poll lead and edge further ahead of Reform UK who are hot on the Tories’ heels.
He will spend the last three days of the campaign touring the nation and try to swing the vote in key marginals to at least achieve a respectable result.
A new cutting-edge survey model from JL Partners reveals more than 100 seats have projected margins of fewer than three points.
Labour are predicted to win 450 seats, with the Tories left with a rump of 105, according to the polling.
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It would mean Mr Sunak holding on to less than 50 per cent of the voters who backed the party in Boris Johnson’s 80-seat victory in 2019.
And party big beasts including Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, Welfare Secretary Mel Stride, ex-leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith and leadership favourite Penny Mordaunt are all set to lose their seats.
Rishi skewers Keir on immigration, taxes and women's rights as PM & Labour leader go head-to-head in fiery last debate
Last night, the PM warned Labour could “stitch things up” if they get into No10 — making it impossible to ever vote them out again.
He claimed Sir Keir Starmer would “rewrite the rules” — allowing them to stay in power by giving 16 and 17-year-olds the vote.
And he warned the public not to “surrender your voice to Labour”.
The PM even suggested they could entrench themselves in office with votes for EU nationals and prisoners.
He and his ministers appealed to 130,000 people currently considering a vote for Reform UK or the Lib Dems to switch back to them to avoid a Labour landslide.
A party spokesman said: “It would be enough to stop Labour’s super-majority.”
'Huge uncertainty'
On the campaign trail yesterday, the PM visited a synagogue and bakery in Golders Green, North West London.
It followed his visit to the BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir, popularly known as Neasden Temple, on Saturday.
But he was forced to fight back on TV yesterday when asked if the UK had lost its international standing as a result of leaving the European Union.
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He told BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg show: “We’re building a new generation of nuclear submarines with Australia and America.
“It has never happened before that we have shared technology on that scale. People are queueing up to work with us as they respect what we do.
“So I just completely reject that. This declinist narrative that people have of the UK I wholeheartedly reject.”
He also highlighted how the UK and Japan signed the Hiroshima Accord last year, improving defence cooperation amid the threat from China.
And Mr Sunak told telly viewers the UK was the first country to sign up to a comprehensive trade deal with countries such as Canada and Singapore.
In an attack on Labour, who want to re-set the relationship with Brussels, he added: “I don’t think it’s right for Labour to end up re-accepting EU rules that we have no say over.”
He refused to accept that public services had deteriorated since the Tories came to power in 2010, claiming UK schoolchildren were the best readers in the western world.
And he hit back at claims that the nation’s Net Zero plans meant Britain was not a leading player in the field.
The PM also insisted he would build on the tax cuts he started last year.
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Meanwhile, Labour’s national campaign co-ordinator Pat McFadden said the election was not a foregone conclusion despite their lead. He said: “There’s huge uncertainty still in these polls.”
Plans are in place for MPs to sit in Parliament until July 31, before returning on September 2, with a Budget set for mid-September if Labour win.
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