Hello and welcome to The Spectator podcast. I'm Laura Prendergast and on this week's episode,

we'll be looking ahead to the general election, which is now just days away. We'll be asking

whether Theresa May might conceivably have blown her chances, and we'll be discussing whether

Jeremy Corbyn as Prime Minister is as unlikely as ever.

And for some light relief, we'll also be considering the role that handwriting plays in our digital society.

First, on to next week's election. In this week's issue of the magazine, James Forsyth says that there are no winners.

At the start of this campaign, Theresa May looked strong and stable, but it has exposed weaknesses in both her methods and her policies. James joins me now, along with Tim Shipman, political editor for the Sunday Times.

So, James, what's gone wrong? Well, I think at the start of this campaign, it seemed like it was going to be

1983 for the Tories. They were going to win a big majority, and that was going to define Theresa May as

the big political figure of the age. And instead,

the campaign, I think, has turned out more like 1987. It hasn't been a great Tory campaign.

The Labour campaign appears to have outperformed it. And there are definitely some wobbles.

You know, Tory started off with a 24-point lead in the polls. We're now talking about opinion

polls, which show the Tory majority actually shrinking

from what Theresa May inherited from David Cameron. Now, look, I personally don't think

those polls are right. I think those people on the ground, whose judgment I most respect

think it is about a 12-point race. But what is certainly true is that Theresa May, in seeking to

consummate her marriage with the British electorate has ended the honeymoon.

The kind of sense that May is this invincible figure has gone. And I think before this campaign,

Theresa May was a blank canvas onto which, it was one of those people closest to her said,

onto which people projected what they wanted to see. They wanted to give her the benefit of a doubt. So if she appeared uncomfortable on television, it was because she wasn't a slick salesman like Cameron or Blair.

This election campaign has given her more definition, but I think it has cost her that support. And I think the U-turn on social care has definitely done damaged her. It's done damaged her in two ways.

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