1. In a last-ditch attempt to save his party from electoral defeat, he resigned from the leadership.

2. They met in a last-ditch attempt to resolve their differences.

3. The fleeing troops rallied and prepared for a last-ditch fight.

4. The possibility of a last-ditch on the part of the enemy should not be lightly dismissed.

5. Only a last-ditch tackle by Song prevented Raul from scoring.

6. She underwent a heart transplant in a last-ditch attempt to save her.

7. The UN General Secretary flew in in a last-ditch effort to save the talks.

8. The negotiators made a last-ditch effort to reach an agreement.

9. Not as a second-rate effort or a last-ditch effort.

10. So finally, in a last-ditch attempt to salvage the exercise as a whole, the following workshop activity was developed.

11. Munich had inspired a last-ditch attempt to bring down Chamberlain and save the peace.

12. Tories fail to halt pedestrian plan A last-ditch attempt to delay the introduction of pedestrianisation in Darlington town centre was defeated.

13. The Republican victories came despite a last-ditch effort by the president to help Democratic candidates.

14. But they opted for a last-ditch marriage weekend that they say saved their relationship.

15. However, Khalid Boulahrouz made a last-ditch tackle to deal with the threat.

16. Researchers hope to make a last-ditch effort to stabilize the Yangtze ecosystem and prevent further extinctions.

17. Last night, Mr Jones said he was involved in a last-ditch effort to save the unit.

18. The whole operation sounds too neat to be true - but it seems to be working at least as well as other last-ditch cancer treatments.

19. Despite his bulk, he jumped several fences in a last-ditch attempt to escape.

20. The Bill looked like being reasonably successful despite a reported last-ditch effort by the Bill's Conservative opponents.

21. The next day, in a moment of grim rationality, I bought a double-barrel derringer as a secret, last-ditch weapon.

22. Horrified by his latest intentions, they were perhaps genuinely considering a last-ditch attempt to save him from himself.

23. A day before the event in Niagara Falls, Semaphore lost a last-ditch skirmish in court.

24. Proponents say geoengineering should at least be considered, if only as a last-ditch tactic.

25. Their frantic recourse to the policy of strength is nothing but the deathbed frenzy of the weak and the last-ditch effort to prevent their ruling system from its collapse.

26. Hungary stunned the markets by raising rates 3pc to 11.5pc in a last-ditch attempt to defend the forint's currency peg in the ERM.

27. The decay heat must still be absorbed, however, and as a last-ditch effort the emergency core cooling system can be activated to flood the entire containment structure with water.

28. A controversial documentary about Japan's annual dolphin slaughter is due to be screened in Tokyo tomorrow, despite last-ditch attempts by hunters to have it banned.

29. The latest plan, devised in close consultation with the Obama administration's car-industry task force, is a last-ditch effort to get GM into competitive shape.

1. In a last-ditch attempt to save his party from electoral defeat, he resigned from the leadership.