Britain’s Election Campaign Enters Final Day

Britain entered the final day of campaigning ahead of a parliamentary election that will define its approach to leaving the European Union but has been overshadowed by two militant attacks in as many weeks.

Prime Minister Theresa May unexpectedly called the June 8 election seven weeks ago, seeking to boost her parliamentary majority ahead of the start of Brexit negotiations and to win more time to deal with the impact of the EU divorce, Reuters reported.

But the campaign has seen a number of unexpected twists, including the deadliest militant attack in Britain since 2005 and a sharp contraction in May’s once commanding lead of over 20 percentage points in opinion polls.

Attacks by terrorists in Manchester and London threw the spotlight on security, while May was forced to backtrack on a social care policy pledge in a move that pundits said was unprecedented in British election campaign history.

“Give me your backing in the polling station tomorrow to battle for Britain in Brussels,” May said on Wednesday. “Get those negotiations wrong and the consequences will be dire.”

May has repeatedly said only she can deliver the right deal for Britain and that opponents would lead its $2.5 trillion economy to ruin in the negotiations with the EU.

Pollsters expect May to win a majority.

But if she fails to beat handsomely the 12-seat majority her predecessor David Cameron won in 2015, her electoral gamble will have failed and her authority will be undermined both inside her Conservative Party and at talks with the 27 other EU leaders.

When May stunned political opponents and financial markets by calling the snap election, her poll ratings indicated she could be on course to win a landslide majority on a par with the 1983 majority of 144 won by Margaret Thatcher.

But May’s poll lead has shrunk over the past three weeks. Latest polls put her party anywhere between 12 to 1 point ahead. One projection said she would win a majority of 64 seats.

There are at least five opinion polls expected before polling stations open today at 0600 GMT.

May and her husband Philip were greeted with jeers of “Vote Labour” as they visited a London meat market on Wednesday.