General election live news: Starmer’s Labour likely to win with largest majority in history as parties enter final campaign day

Mel Stride has effectively conceded defeat for the Conservatives in the General Election.

Asked whether he agrees with Boris Johnson, that it is not “too late”, or Suella Braverman, that it is effectively “over,” the Work and Pensions Secretary told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “What I’m saying is very clear, which is that all the polls are pointing to one very clear conclusion tomorrow: a Labour government with a huge, huge majority.

“But what I’m also saying – and this is where I agree with Boris – is that it is not too late to make sure that we have an opposition in there, Conservative MPs who are able to hold that government to account.”

A serving Conservative minister has suggested he may not vote for the party after it wheeled out Boris Johnson to give an 11th-hour speech to activists.

Rail minister Huw Merriman said he had refused to support Mr Johnson “when the wheels of public and Parliamentary tolerance finally fell off” and that he was unsure how the former PM’s return to frontline Tory politics would affect his vote.

Minutes after Mr Johnson’s speech, Mr Merriman wrote on X: “Given my refusal to support this man and to then welcome a change from his leadership when the wheels of public and Parliamentary tolerance finally fell off, I’m not sure how this pitches for my vote.”

Mel Stride has issued a warning about an “untrammelled Labour Party” in power, telling voters they would “regret” such a situation.

The Work and Pensions Secretary said that if about 130,000 people in about 100 seats who might be considering voting Reform or Liberal Democrat instead gave their vote to the Tories, it would help to give parliament a more robust opposition.

“I’m really worried about an untrammelled Labour Party in power and that really needs to be checked, and people will regret it if we don’t have that, I think,” Mr Stride told LBC.

Labour’s national campaign co-ordinator Pat McFadden has criticised the “show of unity” said to be displayed within the Conservative Party when former prime minister Boris Johnson appeared at a rally on Tuesday night.

Mr McFadden told Times Radio: “The show of unity, I’ve had boiled eggs that have lasted longer than this show of unity.

“Almost before he (Mr Johnson) was finished speaking, we had Suella Braverman in The Telegraph saying that it had all been a terrible mess.

“I think maybe that is the Conservatives’ problem, is that it is all quite late for Boris to now be throwing his weight behind a prime minister, when, I think – to borrow a phrase from Northern Ireland – even the dogs in the street know there’s not a lot of love lost there.”

Mel Stride has said Labour is heading for an “extraordinary landslide on a scale that has probably never, ever been seen in this country before”.

The Work and Pensions Secretary told GB News that the vote would be about how Parliament is going to operate and whether the UK has an effective opposition.

“If you look at the polls, it is pretty clear that Labour at this stage are heading for an extraordinary landslide on a scale that has probably never, ever been seen in this country before,” he said.

Former home secretary Suella Braverman has urged the Conservative Party to “read the writing on the wall” and “prepare for the reality and frustration of opposition”.

Polls suggest Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party is set for a big victory in Thursday’s General Election, and it is forecast to win more seats than it did in 1997.

Writing in The Telegraph, Ms Braverman said victory should no longer be the goal for the Tories. “Thursday’s vote is now all about forming a strong enough opposition,” she wrote.

“One needs to read the writing on the wall: it’s over, and we need to prepare for the reality and frustration of opposition.”

Ms Braverman blamed the situation on a fracture within the Conservative Party resulting from a rise in Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

Boris Johnson’s appearance at a Conservative Party campaign rally is “an insult”, the Liberal Democrats’ deputy leader has said.

Responding to the former prime minister’s appearance at the rally in central London, held late on Tuesday evening, Daisy Cooper said: “This is an insult to everyone who made heartbreaking sacrifices during the pandemic.

“Rishi Sunak has reached a desperate new low, turning to a man who discredited the office of Prime Minister and lied to the country time after time.

“It is time to boot out this tired and sleaze-ridden Conservative Party, and elect Liberal Democrat MPs who will stand up for their communities.”