On this, the Sunday before a general election that Theresa May has described as the most important in her lifetime, the prime minister is far from assured of the ringing endorsement of her leadership that she is seeking. Although the political consensus is that she will be returned to office with a larger majority, Mrs May’s reputation has not been enhanced by an edgy and defensive campaign.
Immediately after she called the election seven weeks ago, polling for this newspaper by YouGov showed that the Tories had a 23-point lead over Labour and the question appeared to be not whether there would be a landslide for Mrs May, but the size of it. Now, with four days to go, the Tory lead is down to