May’s last push, 600 miles by land and by air
Prime Minister hits five constituencies in bid to persuade working-class Labour voters to switch
THERESA MAY yesterday made a 600mile dash through marginal seats in a final bid to persuade lifelong Labour voters to back her for the first time.
The Prime Minister urged workingclass voters to back the Conservatives and give her the mandate in Parliament to secure a good Brexit deal for Britain.
She also made a direct appeal to working-class women, telling shop workers in Nottingham: “Women died so that women could vote.”
The news came as academics at the University of East Anglia said the party was on course to secure a 100-strong majority in the House of Commons because of strong gains in the north of England and Scotland.
Mrs May made the appeal as she campaigned in five seats – two Labour, three Conservative – across southern England and the Midlands by private jet and on her battle bus.
The Tory leader started her day at 5.30am in Smithfield meat market in London with her husband, Philip, before heading to a bowling club in Southampton.
She then flew to an office centre in Norwich, took another flight to a Dunhelm Mill outlet near Nottingham and ended her day at a rally attended by up to 1,000 activists in Birmingham.
Flanked by her Cabinet, Mrs May was due to be introduced by Sir Patrick Mcloughlin, the party’s chairman, and Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary.
Speaking to 100 activists in Norwich, Mrs May pleaded directly to working class voters who have supported Labour all their lives to vote Tory to help her secure a decisive General Election victory as party leader.
She said: “It’s not a question of how they have voted before, it’s a question of who they want to see taking this country through not just the next five years but setting the direction of this country for the future.”
She described them as “people who are fiercely patriotic, who are very proud of their part of the country, who want to see good jobs for their children, who want their children to get a good quality education, who want public services to be there to support them”.
The Conservative Party would be there for them “because we will build that strong economy that will see more jobs, more better-paid jobs”, she said.
“We will be on people’s side, we will help them with the cost of living through capping rip-off energy tariffs.”
Only the Tories had “the plan and the vision and the determination” to deliver a successful exit from the European Union.
She said: “I am absolutely confident that we can do that because I believe in Britain and I believe in the British people. I want us to reignite the British spirit to show the opportunities and what we can be as a country.”
She said the election had boiled down to a question of who voters trusted to deliver the best deal for Britain: “Let’s go out there, not for ourselves but for the future of our country.
My very simple message is – vote Conservative in the national interest.
“Give me your backing to lead Britain; give me the authority to speak for Britain; strengthen my hand when I negotiate for Britain; and with that I will deliver for Britain.”
Mrs May said she had “enjoyed” the campaign. Interviewed for The Daily Telegraph’s Chopper’s Election Podcast earlier in the day, Mrs May disclosed that her husband had been involved: “He has been campaigning but he has been campaigning in a number of seats. But rather than just be with me, he has been out there knocking on
doors and working for other candidates.”
Mrs May refused to rule out commissioning a new royal yacht Britannia to help sell Britain overseas to trading partners.
♦listen to Theresa May’s interview at choppersbrexitpodcast.telegraph.co.uk