Conservatives change tactics
THE TORIES were yesterday forced to change their campaign tactics at the last minute in a bid to counter a surge in support for the Liberal Democrats.
Conservative leader David Cameron cancelled a party political broadcast attacking Labour at the eleventh hour, replacing it with a hastily-filmed video highlighting his credentials as the candidate of change.
Cameron said he knew voters were desperately “looking for anything different or new” but warned the only way to change the government was by giving a “clear and decisive” victory to the Conservatives.
Although he did not mention the Lib Dem leader by name, Tory strategists said he was issuing a subtle warning to voters that if they “vote Clegg” they will “get Brown”.
The surge in support for Nick Clegg’s Lib Dems shows no sign of dying down, according to five opinion polls released yesterday that show the party in second place. Labour is in third place in all the polls, apart from a ComRes poll where it is neck-and-neck with the Lib Dems.
Due to the vagaries of the first-past-the-post system, all polls suggest that Labour would still be the largest party after the election despite coming third in the popular vote, meaning Gordon Brown would try to cling to power by forging a Lib-Lab coalition.