Cameron would love 'Portillo moment' for Labour Minister

The Tory leader said overturning a Labour majority of more than 8,000 in Morley and Outwood is possible despite opinion polls suggesting the General Election is on course to end in a hung parliament.

And he hit back at Labour jibes over his privileged upbringing by pointing out that Mr Balls was privately educated as well but "I've never hidden my background".

Yesterday Mr Cameron sought to inject some fizz into the Tory campaign by visiting Coca Cola's plant in the constituency where he impressed workers during a questions session and met Antony Calvert, the Tory candidate for the seat, as well as Wakefield candidate Alex Story.

A concerted Tory campaign in Morley and Outwood has sparked national interest and Mr Calvert has spoken of creating a shock result on a par with the overturning of a 15,000 majority to defeat Cabinet Minister Michael Portillo in 1997.

Mr Cameron said: "I'm here because I want us to win the seats in this election that will actually mean we will have a decisive Conservative government in this country. You can see that the Labour campaign's in difficulty, Antony's fighting a great campaign. I want to be here to support him so we can try and win this seat... but I haven't given up in Lib Dem seats."

He added: "We'd all love a 'Portillo moment' but that's up to the voters."

Later Mr Cameron told the Yorkshire Post that Mr Calvert's chances should not be written off even though he needs a

10.47 per cent swing to overturn Mr Balls' notional 8,669

majority.

"At the last election there was a modest swing to the Conservatives, but some candidates won with a 10 per cent swing," he said. "Antony's a very strong candidate who's quite capable of winning this seat."

Mr Cameron toured Coca Cola's distribution site at Wakefield Industrial Park before taking questions from workers.

He defended the party's plans for spending cuts and insisted the Tories had gone "further and faster" than Labour or the Liberal Democrats in detailing their plans – such as a public sector pay freeze and bringing forward the extension of the retirement age – despite criticism from the Institute for Fiscal Studies that all three parties are leaving voters in the dark – and said he did not think he could go further.

He pledged to "act early" to tackle the budget deficit and also said he would make the banks support business and the economy rather than "what we've had in recent years – the economy supporting the banks".

Admitting it would be a "failure" if the Tories did not win the election, now just seven days away, he also defended his opposition to the Euro and promised not to do anything that would threaten the future of the United Kingdom.

"If you cut me in half, I'm a believer in the United Kingdom, it's tattooed on me like a stick of rock," he said.

Afterwards most workers – many of them former Labour voters – said they were impressed with Mr Cameron's performance.

Team leader Pat Smith, 43, from Pontefract, said: "He was quite impressive, a very good speaker. I will not be voting Labour this time – I'm down to two choices now and this might have swayed me."

Responding to Mr Cameron's comments, Mr Balls said: "People remember what the Tories did to jobs and industries in our area in the 1980s. Round here people know that it would be a disastrous mistake to cut support from the economy when the recovery is still fragile. I am working working hard for people's support because staying at home or flirting with the Lib Dems next Thursday risks letting David Cameron become Prime Minister next Friday. That would be a disaster for jobs, schools and the living standards of families and pensioners in this area."