Opinion | Boris Johnson Just Might Pull This Off

Mr. Johnson likes to say “there are no disasters, only opportunities.” The Tories believe their new opportunity is winning over lifelong Labour voters. More than 70 percent of Leave voters are backing the Tories, according to one poll. The Remain vote, meanwhile, seems to be split. And Mr. Johnson’s approval rating has risen since the campaign began.

The election will be decided in the traditional Labour heartlands that start in Wales and go through the Midlands and North. There was a time when Tory was a dirty word in these parts. It still can’t be described as a compliment. The hope is that while these voters may not feel good about it, they will view a vote for Mr. Johnson as necessary.

To placate the fears of these would-be supporters, the party has shifted its domestic policy, too, away from its traditional commitment to fiscal austerity and toward a kind of blue-collar conservatism. The recently released manifesto proposes higher spending — by Conservative standards — on the National Health Service and education.

The slogan “Get Brexit Done” is geared toward this message — even if passing the withdrawal agreement is just the first stage of the process. It came from focus groups where voters of all stripes repeatedly cited their desire to deliver the referendum result, whether out of enthusiasm for the project or simply because they want to move on.

If this all sounds a little familiar, it’s because it’s similar to the strategy Ms. May attempted when she called a snap election in 2017 — and then went on to lose her party’s majority. A guidebook produced by the Conservative Party and recently distributed to Tory candidates put it succinctly: “Many of these people may have been considering a vote for the Conservatives but by polling day they returned home to Labour.”

The hope is that a more charismatic leader, a slicker campaign and a promise to end austerity will be enough to get the Conservatives over the line. If Mr. Johnson fails, it will be a strategic error of disastrous proportions. It won’t just be the Tories that lose; Brexit will also be firmly on ice.

But the fact that Brexit really is on the line in this election may well be enough to rally Leavers to return Mr. Johnson to the prime minister’s office — so he can finish the job.

Katy Balls (@katyballs) is the deputy political editor of The Spectator.

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