Cameron refuses complacency despite 18-point lead
By Alex Stevenson
Conservative leader David Cameron has insisted he does not take a victory at the next election for granted, despite a poll today putting him 18 per cent ahead of Gordon Brown’s Labour.
The Com Res poll for the Independent had the Conservatives up six points to 42 per cent, over the psychologically important 40 per cent barrier.
The gains came largely at the expense of other parties, who were down four points to 16 per cent.
But Labour and the Liberal Democrats both lost one point as they slipped to 24 and 18 per cent respectively.
“Margaret Thatcher had to win 40 seats to get a majority, just to win. We need to win 120 seats. Everything has got to go right,” he told Absolute Radio.
“We are really focused on what we need to do between now and the next election. I really don’t take it for granted.”
According to the Independent today’s figures would result in Mr Cameron controlling a 152-seat majority in the Commons, only just short of Tony Blair’s 179-majority in the 1997 landslide.
The predicted swing of 10.5 per cent would lead to senior Labour figures losing their seats and first secretary of state Peter Mandelson has admitted things look tough for Britain’s governing party.
“It’s going to be harder for us, in other words, to be insurgents rather than simply incumbents,” he told BBC2’s Newsnight programme.
“It’s going to be harder for us to convince people in the way that we need to do that we are going to continue to be, as I say, the change-makers in British politics.”
Mr Brown succeeded in averted a challenge to his leadership earlier this year with a well-timed Cabinet reshuffle.
Analysts now believe it is too late for the prime minister to be ousted before the next general election, which must come by spring 2010.
