Usually in a general election campaign, MPs in marginal seats invite high profile party figures to their constituencies in a bid to generate interest from the local media and win over swing voters. This is certainly what’s happening when it comes to the Tory campaign — from Theresa May downwards, Conservative ministers have been busy touring the country over the past few weeks.
For Labour, however, the goal posts are a bit different this election. MPs are faced with a quandary over whether or not to extend an invitation to the party’s high command. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, a visit reinforces the Conservative message that the prospect of a Labour government is real (and undermines some MPs’ claims that it is safe to vote for them personally as Corbyn won’t be Prime Minister come June 9).
Secondly, the majority of politicians who make up Labour’s shadow cabinet are not so much the party’s best and brightest, as those who were on the ‘subs bench’ and shuffled onto the pitch when other players declined.
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