Tony Blair entered the final two days of his campaign for re-election today under attack over the Iraq war but with polls showing him set for a historic third straight term in office.
After a week of bitter campaigning on Mr Blair's integrity and support for the US-led invasion of Iraq, a survey in the Financial Timesshowed Labour has a comfortable lead in the run-up to Thursday's election.
"There have been some pretty fearsome attacks on my character," Mr Blair said in an interview with broadcaster ITV. "I am not going to stand here and beg for my own character. People can make up their minds whether they trust me or not."
The Conservative Party has accused Mr Blair of lying over the advice he received from the government's top lawyer on the legality of the 2003 Iraq war.
Mr Blair has also spent much of the past two years defending himself against charges he exaggerated the threat posed by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein as no stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq following his overthrow.
But the MORI/ Financial Timessurvey put Labour on 39 per cent, up three points on last week, the Conservatives down five on 29 and the Liberal Democrats down one on 22.
If those figures were repeated on May 5th, Mr Blair would return to power with a slightly reduced 146-seat parliamentary majority, the newspaper said.
But the poll also suggested the campaign is far from over, with more than a third of voters saying they may change their minds.