David Cameron warned today that a hung parliament would cripple hopes for change amid more signs of a surge in Liberal Democrat support.
With polls suggesting the historic first prime ministerial debate could have blown the British general election wide open, Mr Cameron said only a “decisive” Tory government could “get the job done”.
The comments came after daily YouGov research for The Sun found the Lib Dems had leapfrogged Labour into second place after party leader Nick Clegg's much-praised performance.
The party was on 30 per cent to Labour’s 28 per cent, with the Conservatives in the lead on 33 per cent.
It was the second poll to show a “bounce” in the wake of the debate, following an ITV/ComRes survey yesterday which put the Lib Dems up three points to 24 per cent, but still trailing Labour on 28 per cent and the Tories on 35 per cent.
Addressing activists in Gloucester this morning, Mr Cameron said Britain was in desperate need of action to remove the “black cloud” of the deficit and clean up politics.
“Is another five years of Gordon Brown going to get that job done? He’s had 13 years and he is making things worse,” Mr Cameron said.
“Is a hung parliament going to get that job done? A hung parliament would be a bunch of politicians haggling, not deciding.
“They would be fighting for their own interests, not fighting for your interests. They would not be making long-term decisions for the country’s future, they would be making short-term decisions for their own future.
“The way we are going to get things done is to have a decisive Conservative government.” Although Mr Cameron did not refer to Mr Clegg or the Lib Dems explicitly, the warning is an indication that the Tories are treating the impact of the debate very seriously.
Not since the days of the SDP/Liberal Alliance in the 1980s have Labour been forced into third place in national polls of this kind.
Polling evidence suggests the swing to the Liberal Democrats was even stronger among the 10 million voters who tuned in to watch Thursday’s debate.
The ITV/ComRes survey found that, of a sample of 4,000 viewers who watched the broadcast, some 35 per cent said they would vote Lib Dem, against 36 per cent for the Tories and 24 per cent for Labour.
And Mr Clegg was picked as the winner of the debate in four separate instant surveys, racking up support as high as 61 per cent in one poll.
The Lib Dem leader was focusing on health policy today as he and his wife Miriam visited the south London hospital where one of their sons was born.
Thanks to the complexities of the Westminster voting system, the figures in The Sun poll may be more disastrous for the Tories than for Labour.
According to the BBC’s election seat calculator, if repeated on an even swing across the country on May 6th, they would produce a hung Parliament with Labour the largest single party with 276 MPs against 246 Tories and 99 Lib Dems.
Such a result - coupled with Mr Clegg’s role as “kingmaker” - would be certain to increase the pressure for electoral reform.
Observers will now be watching keenly to see whether the Lib Dems’ dramatic surge in support is repeated in later surveys.
PA