Corbyn closes the gap, but will he win?

Madrid: A month ago, British Prime Minister Theresa May looked like a political genius by calling an early general election. Then, she seemed on course for a 100-plus seat majority for her Conservative party as she sought a strong mandate to negotiate the UK’s Brexit from the European Union.

Then, her party had a 20-point lead in opinion polls over the main opposition Labour Party. Now, four weeks later and with 46 million Britons eligible to vote in Thursday’s snap general election, Labour has closed the gap – raising the possibility that May might have gambled badly.

With Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn faring better than expected, the Conservative lead has evaporated to just 3 percentage — on the edge of the margin of error for most polls — and seemingly decreasing daily.

The campaign was effectively punctuated by the Manchester terrorist attack on May 22 that killed 22 at a pop concert. Normally, such an event would give the ruling party a bounce though responding to the atrocity and tightening security measure, that’s not the case now. May, who was Home Secretary responsible for policing before she became Prime Minister, has been under fire for eliminating 20,000 frontline police positions. Corbyn has been criticised for his historic connections with Sinn Fein and the Irish Republican Army but he points out that those contacts brought about a lasting peace in Northern Ireland.

Labour is promising to invest billions in health and social services and re-nationalise rail, mail, water and electricity.

Carefully managed by party handlers, May has refused to participate in a national televised leader’s debate and her party is under attack over cuts to health and social services. When she has appeared on television, health care workers and those suffering from reduced benefits have taken her to task.

Appearing on the BBC’s Question Time on Friday, May appeared flustered when challenged by healthcare workers. Her party has flip-flopped over a so-called “dementia tax” — a levy on property owned by seniors in need of long-term care. And yesterday, May appeared to correct one of her senior ministers, Michael Fallon, when he said that those who pay the top rate of income tax would not face any new increase.