Taking the pledge

One day to go and here are the latest party standings: Labour 30% (down 1%), Liberal Democrats 27% (up 3%), Greens 27% (down 3%), Conservatives 15% (no change).

As when I last blogged about this two weeks ago, this is of course not a real poll but the percentage of parliamentary candidates in England who have signed up to the National Housing Federation’s affordable housing pledge. 

The total number of signatories is up 31% at 323 - almost enough for a parliamentary majority but for the fact that many of them are competing for the same seat.  

The pledge is relatively uncontroversial - ‘I pledge to back the building of more affordable homes and to work towards all constituents having access to decent, affordable housing in safe and sustainable communities’ - and is widely supported in urban areas. However, support is still pretty thin on the ground in the NIMBY heartlands south of the M25 and M4.

Tory signatories include obvious names like housing spokesman Grant Shapps and former housing minister Sir George Young as well as some newly noteable ones like Henry Smith. The Conservative candidate for ultra-marginal Crawley may just just have condemned garden grabbing by his wife but he is also the only candidate for the seat to have taken the pledge.

Nothing seems certain about tomorrow but if the Conservatives win a majority tomorrow, then likely winners include signatories of the pledge like Alok Sharma in Reading West and Richard Graham in Gloucester.