Cameron rules out tactical voting in Yorkshire

The Prime Minister answered questions from staff and the public at health software firm TPP, in Horsforth, Leeds, before taking part in events in Halifax, Elland and Garforth on his biggest single day of campaigning in Yorkshire so far during the election.

The Conservatives need to defend and win a series of marginal seats in Yorkshire to have any chance of forming a majority Government but the polls have so far failed to deliver a shift in their direction.

Asked if he would stay on as Conservative Party leader if he failed to secure a majority on May 7, he said: “I want to win 23 seats because I want an overall majority so Britain can have a strong and decisive government, and frankly a more accountable government that we need.

“This is not about me, this is about you, this is about our country, this is about how we make sure we create the jobs, can we keep cutting peoples taxes, can we build the homes that young people want to buy, can we provide the great schools?

“It’s not about me, its about delivering a government that can deliver for the country, if I fall short, too right I will be deeply disappointed but I’m not going to fall short.

“This is a campaign that’s still got 16 days to go and as I go up and down the country what I’m finding is people are saying yes it’s about the economy, it’s about security, keep on with the plan and we can deliver a great future for our people.”

Mr Cameron told the audience a Conservative government would create 100,000 jobs in the region.

And he claimed the only way for local voters in Horsforth to stop the SNP’s Nicola Sturgeon and Ed Miliband doing a post-election deal was to back the Conservatives’ Stuart Andrew who is defending against a strong challenge from Labour in the Pudsey constituency.

He rejected the suggestion Conservative supporters worried about the SNP should vote Lib Dem in Yorkshire seats like Nick Clegg’s Sheffield Hallam constituency where the party stands little chance of success.

Mr Cameron told The Yorkshire Post: “The truth is the Liberal Democrats can’t stop the Ed Miliband-SNP toxic tie-up for two reasons; one is clearly they are going to be a much smaller party after this election.

“But secondly, they haven’t said they want to. The Liberal Democrats are saying they are just as likely to go with Ed Miliband as with anyone else.

“So if you want to be certain that you keep the team that is turning the economy around you need to vote Conservatives.”

The Prime Minister insisted he had not been surprised by the impact made by Mrs Sturgeon in recent days, describing her as an “effective politician”.

Mr Cameron added: “Where everybody needs to be clear is that a Scottish Nationalist politician is a different sort of politician, because they are not in it for the whole country. They are in it to separate Scotland from the rest of the country.

“The SNP manifesto and SNP ideas and what they were saying yesterday about wanting to help all of the country, that is complete and utter nonsense.

“Because of course, they are only driven by one thing, ultimately, and that is to break up the United Kingdom.”