Peter Mandelson’s final state of the race update

By Alex Smith / @alexsmith1982

On the eve of the general election, Peter Mandelson has this evening sent the following email to our supporters, who have worked tirelessly throughout this campaign:

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Around the country, party members are working furiously to get out the vote for tomorrow. It is still too close to call. David Cameron thought this election would be a coronation, that he could just waltz into Downing Street. It has turned out very differently.

The reason for the public’s reluctance to embrace the Tories is that they may feel it is time for change but, equally, do not want to let go of a Labour government that has changed the country for the better in so many ways, as well as showing genuine boldness and fortitude in managing the economic crisis we have gone through.

And at the heart of their uncertainty lies the choice between Gordon Brown and David Cameron. Between experience and experiment. Substance and superficiality. Tested and untried. Undecided voters are thinking carefully. Is it really time to make the switch?

That’s why, in the final days of the campaign, we have been focusing hard on our record – the jobs created, the new schools and hospitals, the low interest rates and inflation, the minimum wage, tax credits – as well as our economic plan for the future versus the Tories’ Emergency Budget in June, and the threat it would pose to the recovery, jobs and public services.

All our voter research this week confirms that very many voters are hesitant over the risk posed by the Tories. We have to be the safe choice, therefore, as well as the positive choice for those who want to see the economy rebalanced as well as rebuilt; public services further renewed as well as protected; and public faith in politics restored through much-needed reform of parliament and the electoral system.

Gordon’s fighting performances in the past few days have energised our campaigning and put a spring in people’s step. He has really found his voice because he knows the importance of the next 24 hours.

Gordon is fighting for the future – for people’s jobs, their schools, their hospitals, their tax credits and their living standards. So let’s fight with him for every vote right up until the time the polls close. This is going to the wire.

Last, I want to give a big thank you to all the staff at Labour’s Campaign HQ. With more limited resources than before, they have worked like Trojans to deliver a national campaign worthy of our activists and supporters in the country. I am very proud of them.

Peter