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Polling expert says support for tactical voting could surge in coming days
Professor John Curtice, a polling expert. Photograph: BBC. - Credit: Archant
One of Britain's most respected pollsters has said that Boris Johnson is currently in pole position - but a small number of people tactically voting can completely transform the result.
Professor John Curtice told Andrew Marr that the situation with the polls is back where things were at the start of the election campaign.
He said: "There has been movement for both the Labour and the Conservative Party, both have gained ground.
"Labour at the expense of the Lib Dems, and the Conservatives at the expense of the Brexit Party."
But he added the polling was stagnating as we enter the last week of the campaign.
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He said: "The Conservatives are certainly still in pole position, but not necessarily so far ahead that they are guaranteed a majority yet."
In a message of hope for Remainers he said that tactical voting can make all the difference, and that people can decide to do it in the final days before the election.
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"People tend to decide to do it quite late in the day.
"It is also a relatively small number of people who do it but it can have a big impact.
"It is very difficult to see in the polls in the run-up to an election and that is bound to remain one of the uncertainties hanging over CCHQ over the course of the next few days."
The comments from Curtice backs up claims from both Gina Miller's Remain United and Best for Britain that tactical voting in a small number of seats can stop a Boris Johnson majority.
Best for Britain says a small number of votes in just 36 constituencies can make the difference.
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