And so we come to it, at last, the eve of this surreal General Election campaign. My final BBC poll of polls has Labour's lead shrinking slightly, as they are down to 39% with the Conservatives rallying a touch to 21%. The "shy Tory" factor may yet still be alive and well, 32 years on from 1992, so it might not be quite the extinction-level catastrophe the polls for some weeks predicted. But I still think it's going to be a very bad night tomorrow night to be a Tory. The Liberal Democrats and Reform UK votes seems to have plateaued, but the Greens continue to make a little progress. The below is not a prediction, it's simply the last latest numbers from the BBC Poll of Polls. I personally will be deeply unhappy if the Conservatives win a single seat and Starmer fails within 30 days of taking office to pass legislation making uttering or writing the words "politics of envy," a criminal offence carrying a mandatory custodial sentence, but then some people are never satisfied and I am manifestly one of them. Happy Election Day, everyone, and if you're a Tory reading this, yes, I am gratuitously ripping the p*ss out of you. I've been waiting 14 long years for the opportunity and I'm not about to spurn it now it's arrived. That would require grace and quality and it goes without saying I possess neither.Three days to go to Polling Day and I have a theory: The Conservative vote is unlikely to go any lower than 20% now as that 20% represents the Tory hardcore, those who will vote Conservative come Hell or High Water, come early D-Day exit or betting scandal. But I also think the Reform UK vote will hold up - the 17% defies the Farage Putin remarks and who cares if some candidates are suspect if you are a suspect voter yourself? And that 17% might yet still do the Tories a lot of damage come Thursday night where there could be a record number of recounts, that many seats are so finely poised.
Betting
Most Seats
Labour 1.01
Reform UK 140
Conservatives 210
Overall Majority
Labour 1.04
No Overall Majority 30
Reform UK 210
Conservatives 260
Conservative Seats
50-99 2.16
100-149 3.45
150-199 8.2
0-49 9.2
Conservatives to lose 201+ Seats: 1.14
Labour Seats
450-499 2.22
400-449 3.2
350-399 7.6
500+ 21
Source: "The Machine"
Latest (1st July) BBC Poll Tracker
Labour 40%
Conservatives 20%
Reform UK 17%
Liberal Democrats 11%
Green 6%
Electoral Calculus User-Defined
Seats Prediction Based On Above
Labour 470
Liberal Democrats 71
Conservatives 61
Reform UK 7
Green 3
Labour Majority: 290
You can see the media narrative already.
If Labour don't get the so-called "supermajority" the polls have been suggesting, they will be accused of failing to enthuse the electorate despite facing the worst government of all time, the Tories will make out it's a great effort in adversity (conveniently forgetting they created their own adversity) and the rest will say once again they're victims of first-past-the-post, with Reform warning this is just the start.
I will still be following it, though, clinging to my plaintive hope Labour do even better than expected.
On a brighter note, The Daily Star aren't exactly beating around the bush....
He has and he's getting insufferably excited - fortunately he's off to Yarmouth today to see a horse he owns a whisker of so I'll be spared the worst of it.Ian Davies' friend must have had a lump on
Your incumbent MP Maria Miller strikes me one of the few half-decent centrist 'one nation' Tories though I do of course hope Mr Murphy triumphsI've already voted (for a chap called Luke Murphy), it's a lovely sunny day here in Hampshire (alright, Basingstoke
to be fair Des, it is true that there are millions heading to the polls. If it was "Hundreds of Thousands Head To The Polls", there would be serous concerns."Millions Head To The Polls To Vote In UK General Election,"
Again, the BBC doing the Tories' will.
Keep up the narrative that there's no point in voting, ie millions are out there voting (when they're not) so people will assume they don't need to go out and vote, which will play right into the Tory strategy.
Spot on.to be fair Des, it is true that there are millions heading to the polls. If it was "Hundreds of Thousands Head To The Polls", there would be serous concerns.
Well done Soph! I was out canvassing with our Labour candidate last weekend and agree that it makes such a difference meeting someone personally. The trouble is canvassing is so time consuming and in two hours we only covered two streets. Alastair Campbell has been speaking to lots of schoolchildren recently; he’s amazed at how well informed many of them are. I’m not sure what age his book ‘ But what can I do’ is aimed at but he wants everyone to become engaged with politics. I’m not as left wing as Tony Benn but used to go to his talks and bought a copy of his book Letters to my Grandchildren for my grandsons. I told him how cynical I had become about politics and he said ‘be critical, not cynical’. Things like that stay with you. Ditto emails from MP’s that email you back even though you’re not in their constituency and aren’t obliged to do so; as one Conservative MP told me ‘ you could vote for us you know, it is a secret ballot’. When it comes to the sort of issues she is interested in she could always get you to email any MP’s involved in those issues and could sign it with you.I’m feeling very organised because Soph and I went on the way to school. Was nice really - village polling station, so very quiet, three nice ladies in charge of things and I got to show her what goes on and explain it to her.
Shes 9 years old - all she cares about is the environment, abused animals and horse racing. She wanted to vote green apart from their anti racing stance. So she picked “ the orange man” because our local Lib Dem man ( Phil Hutty) was the only one who came to see us - the others just posted leaflets.
So anyone who thinks that bit of extra effort doesn’t get noticed… that’s going to stick with her for a very long time.
to be fair Des, it is true that there are millions heading to the polls. If it was "Hundreds of Thousands Head To The Polls", there would be serous concerns.
Delighted to read this. When my daughter was ready to vote for the first time she said to me that she thought that she might vote for "my" party. I replied by saying that I was pleased that she had decided to vote & I hoped that she would always use her vote - for which ever party she herself chose.I’m feeling very organised because Soph and I went on the way to school. Was nice really - village polling station, so very quiet, three nice ladies in charge of things and I got to show her what goes on and explain it to her.
Shes 9 years old - all she cares about is the environment, abused animals and horse racing. She wanted to vote green apart from their anti racing stance. So she picked “ the orange man” because our local Lib Dem man ( Phil Hutty) was the only one who came to see us - the others just posted leaflets.
So anyone who thinks that bit of extra effort doesn’t get noticed… that’s going to stick with her for a very long time.
I would say that is an astute observation and back in the infancy of betting exchanges, when I owned one myself, and the legislation surrounding them was unclear, I asked Maria Miller to ask a question on my behalf in the House Of Commons and, despite her lack of domain expertise on the subject, she did it with impeccable efficiency.Your incumbent MP Maria Miller strikes me one of the few half-decent centrist 'one nation' Tories though I do of course hope Mr Murphy triumphs
I've voted and my red rose buttonhole caused some mirth
Busy at the polling station and a teller informed me that voting had been 'brisk' all morning
Hiya Des.Yes, obviously it's a fact that millions will go to the polls today but it doesn't mean the BBC doesn't have a pro-Tory agenda.