General Election 2015: David Cameron to 'take to the streets' in attempt to boost support

The approach resembles John Major's attempt to connect with voters before the 1992 election

The Prime Minister hopes that meeting voters face to face will boost his poll ratings (Getty)

The race for Number 10 is so tight that David Cameron is planning to “take to the streets” and meet real people over the coming days, in what will be a repeat of John Major’s last-ditch decision to resort to old-fashioned soapbox politics when polls put him neck and neck with Neil Kinnock in 1992.

Whetting voters’ appetites, the Prime Minister said there was “plenty more to come” from him in this election campaign and he would be pounding the streets to inject some much-needed enthusiasm and energy into a dull campaign.

In one of the most stage-managed election campaigns in history, with parties giving very little access to journalists and ordinary voters in fear of a “Gillian Duffy moment” – a reference to when Gordon Brown branded Ms Duffy a “bigoted woman” after expressing worries about immigration in 2010 – there is little wonder why neither Labour nor the Conservatives are able to sustain any sort of lead in the polls.

The Independent’s latest poll of polls put Labour and the Conservatives tied on 34 per cent and due to the Tories’ failure to bring the constituency boundaries up to date and the fact that there will be more seats held by left-wing parties, Mr Cameron desperately needs a clear lead in the polls if he has any chance of remaining in Downing Street.

So that is perhaps why Mr Cameron is ready to change tack and reach for the soapbox, as he searches for that much-needed breakaway moment.

"I will be, in the next few days, taking to the streets and taking this message about how we should continue with the plan that's working and avoid this calamitous prospect,” he told the Andrew Marr Show. "As far as I can see I am about the only person who has done a walkabout in this election,” he claimed.

It was about this time in the 1992 election campaign when Sir John grabbed a soapbox and a loudspeaker to make a desperate attempt to inject enthusiasm into an otherwise lack-lustre campaign.

Three opinion polls had shown Labour ahead of the Tories but a fourth indicated the two parties were neck-and-neck, just as things stand now.

Mr Cameron will be hoping he can emulate Sir John’s late turnaround in the polls to clinch victory, but it looks highly unlikely he will achieve a majority of seats, as the Tories just about managed in 1992. The best he can probably hope for is enough seats to give them the chance of a second coalition with the Liberal Democrats, or just enough seats to try a minority government.

---

The Independent has got together with May2015.com to produce a poll of polls that produces the most up-to-date data in as close to real time as is possible.

Click the buttons below to explore how the main parties' fortunes have changed:

All data, polls and graphics are courtesy of May2015.com. Click through for daily analysis, in-depth features and all the data you need. (All historical data used is provided by UK Polling Report)