Boris Johnson expects a ‘tough election’
Boris Johnson has said he is prepared to fight a “tough” election after parliament agreed to a 12 December snap poll yesterday.
Opposition parties granted the Prime Minister a general election after voting against previous attempts on several occasions.
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The bill, setting out the terms of a 12 December general election, will now go through the House of Lords before it is passed into law.
Johnson told Conservative MPs that the country must “come together to get Brexit done”.
“It’ll be a tough election and we are going to do the best we can,” he said.
Writing in the Daily Mirror today, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said “the election is a once-in-a-generation chance to transform our country”.
He added: “A Labour government will be on your side, while Boris Johnson’s Conservatives – who think they’re born to rule – will only look after the privileged few.”
Liberal Democrats leader Jo Swinson, meanwhile, has reaffirmed her belief that the Liberal Democrats can win an election and form government.
Speaking to the BBC this morning, she said: “We know from the 2017 election that the polls at the beginning of the campaign don’t necessarily bear any resemblance to the final results.
“I don’t think that the choice that we are being offered between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn is anywhere near good enough.”
An average of major polls in October has the Tories with 35.69 per cent of the vote, according to CityAM‘s own analysis.
That compares to 25.13 per cent for Labour, 17.75 per cent for the Liberal Democrats and 11.44 per cent for the Brexit Party.
The most recent poll for Yougov taken over 24 and 25 October puts the Conservative party on 36 per cent, Labour on 23 per cent, the Liberal Democrats on 18 per cent and the Brexit Party in fourth place on 12 per cent.
Despite the Conservatives lead, there is no guarantee a 35 per cent primary vote will deliver a majority.
Senior Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs have said today they would not enter a coalition with any other party.
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Shadow chancellor John McDonnell told the BBC this morning “there will be no deals, no coalition” if they won the election.
Liberal Democrat MP also said today that “we will not do a coalition or any sort of arrangement”.