The man who won Hove at the last general election said that if he is beaten today, he can walk away with his head held high.
Peter Kyle, who is Labour’s candidate again, told Latest TV about being an MP: “Every day in this job is a privilege.
“If I win, then fantastic. I get the privilege of being able to do it for longer.
“If I don’t get elected then at least I’ll be able to walk away with my head held high.
“Nothing is impossible in elections. There’s nothing inevitable about defeat and there’s nothing inevitable about victory.”
He said that he hoped to show voters that he and his party were on their side.
Mr Kyle won the seat against the national swing to the Tories in 2015 but his slim majority – just 1,236 votes – makes it the 14th most marginal Labour seat in the House of Commons.
Mr Kyle’s main challenger Kristy Adams hopes to wrest the seat back for the Tories.
She has had the disadvantage of having only been selected after Prime Minister Theresa May called the snap poll seven weeks ago.
Mr Kyle is widely regarded as having been in campaign mode ever since he was first selected four years ago.
And having been heavily involved in Celia Barlow’s successful campaign for the seat in 2005, he is a relatively rooted and experienced campaigner in the constituency.
But there is no UKIP candidate this time round and the party leadership is urging supporters to back the Conservatives in seats such as Hove.
The UKIP candidate two years ago won 3,265 votes. Mr Kyle, an ardent Remain campaigner, has a majority of 1,236.
He has refused to do a deal with the Greens and enter a “progressive alliance”. In Brighton Kemptown the Green Party stood aside unilaterally.
The Greens picked up 3,569 votes last time and, while Mr Kyle might benefit from some tactical voting, the maths remains tight.
According to the Oddschecker betting website, the bookies regard Mr Kyle as the favourite with the odds shifting his way in recent days.
He said at the start of the campaign that Theresa May was putting her party’s interests ahead of the country’s interests in calling the election. She hoped to capitalise on the Conservatives being ahead in the opinion polls.
But he added: “I think that will come back and bite them on the backside.”
By breakfast time on Friday (9 June) Mr Kyle will know whether he has done enough to hold off a hastily set up but well-organised Tory challenge.
There are three other candidates standing in Hove today (Thursday 8 June). They are Phélim Mac Cafferty for the Greens, Carrie Hynds for the Liberal Democrats and Charley Sabel, an Independent.
An involved and diligent MP who gives his all, Peter is nevertheless a Blairite who would turn on Corbyn as soon as look at him (openly disloyal at the Friends of Israel Hustings)and that made my intention to vote for him, to help try to block Theresa May getting an unaccountable landslide victory, wobble.
A bullying tweet from Inkpen-Leissner today when I tweeted concern about a Pavilion poll and the possibility of losing Caroline Lucas there (I only really care about getting GOOD PEOPLE who will benefit the area as well as governance)has made my voting intention wobble even more. Labour activists were nasty during the local election campaign and in general have a far too yah, boo, sucks attitude that HOLDS LABOUR BACK AND MAKES IT UNTRUSTWORTHY.
….and your feet held even higher!