Keir Starmer hailed a “new era of hope and opportunity” as millions prepare to vote in a general election that could bring the biggest change to British politics in a generation.
The Labor leader said he was “ready for government” and his expected cabinet would “take immediate action” if he won Thursday’s election.
With Rishi Sunak’s closest allies appearing to concede Tory defeat and final polls predicting an unprecedented Labor victory, Starmer said he hoped Britain was about to enter a new chapter.
On the final day of the intense six-week campaign, the Guardian understands Sunak has revealed to members of his inner circle that he fears losing his seat, while a new YouGov poll predicts that 16 cabinet ministers will The loss of seats – potentially giving Starmer the largest majority of any single party since 1832.
Starmer was speaking at a campaign event in Scotland, which will be one of the key battlegrounds on Thursday, telling his campaigners they were “in the final yards of the start of a historic day”.
“This is a great country with endless potential. The British people deserve a government that matches their ambitions. Today is an opportunity to start working with Labour, to rebuild Britain.”
He promised a series of actions if he reaches No. 10 and said he would delay the recess of Parliament to kick-start his legislative program.
Starmer said he had told the shadow cabinet they would not be forgiven if results were not shown immediately. He said he told them: “I don’t want you to have a phone call or a meeting the day after the election that could have happened six months before the election.”
Starmer said he was in a rare state of mental preparation for victory after an extremely cautious campaign, saying: “I’m really pleased that four and a half years of work has vindicated because it wasn’t An easy task.
Sunak spent the day campaigning in safe Conservative seats in southern England. Sources told the Guardian he privately revealed the results of his vote in Richmond, which was too close to call in Northallerton.
In 2019, he won the seat with a majority of more than 27,000 votes and 63% of the vote. One source said: “He was really worried about defeat at Richmond: the risk of a tight race hit him hard. He was panicked – he couldn’t believe it had come so close.
Conservative leaders, including sacked former home secretary Suella Braverman and work and pensions secretary Mel Stride, have also made clear election defeat appears inevitable .
Sunak, however, put aside the idea that the Conservatives had accepted defeat, campaigning in super-safe Tory seats such as Hamble Valley on the final day before voting began.
He claimed that “millions” of voters were still undecided and said people should “understandably separate their frustrations with me, the party and the past from their final decision”.
When asked by a school about his highlights as chancellor, Sunak dodged the question while arguing that he had spent much of his time in office battling external events.
“There’s a lot you want to do, but the reality is you’re dealing with the situation in front of you. That’s the story of my political career over the past few years. That’s reality. You have to play the cards that are dealt to you,” he said.
Asked if he would take full responsibility for the election results, he responded: “Yes.”
The Conservatives were dealt another blow on Wednesday night when The Sun made a sudden U-turn and backed Labor for the first time since 2005.
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After years of fiercely critical coverage of Labour, and personal attacks on the leader it dubbed “Mr Softball”, The Sun backed Starmer on Wednesday, saying: “It’s time for a change… Meaning now is Labour’s time.
In Essex, where Britain’s reformist leader Nigel Farage is making his eighth attempt to enter parliament, the Tory candidate who has blocked him issued a last-ditch appeal to stop what he calls a “populist juggernaut”.
Farage led a rally in Clacton city center chanting “we want our country back” as he again sought to make immigration a centerpiece of his campaign.
“How’s the dentist in Clacton? Then you should come in a dinghy,” he said after arriving in a military vehicle to the sound of Eminem’s “Without Me”.
Giles Watling, who defends the Clacton constituency, said the atmosphere in the constituency had changed since the arrival of large numbers of Farage supporters. He described the reformist leader’s rallies as “chilling” and claimed people had been intimidated by lobbyists from the populist party, including a shop owner who said she was told that if she persisted, “this Not a good idea”. There are Conservative placards in her windows.
Appearing alongside former boxer Derek Chisora, Farage was in an upbeat mood, predicting Labor would win up to 37 per cent of the vote and his party would “challenge the government” at the next election.
Labor strategists are nervous about the prospect of shocks in some unpredictable constituencies, including those where reform votes are surging and where Labor faces challenges from the Greens or independent candidates running in Gaza.
The party is bracing for a series of unconventional upheavals, including defeating the Greens in shadow culture secretary Thangam Debbonaire’s Bristol central seat and a defeat in a seat with a large Muslim population , including Birmingham Ladywood, Bethnal Green and Bow and Dewsbury and Batley. Islington North, where former Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn is running as an independent, is said to be a close race, according to party insiders.
On the final day of a grueling campaign, Starmer spent time in Wales, Scotland and England before concluding with a rally in the Midlands, another part of the UK where Labor hopes to wrest more from the Conservatives. seats.
In Glasgow, he mocked the SNP for urging voters to vote for them and “send a message” to Westminster. “I don’t want Scotland to send a message, I want Scotland to send a government,” he said. Labor is expected to take back dozens of seats in Scotland from the SNP.
On Wednesday night, First Minister John Swinney said Labor’s victory was a foregone conclusion. “The only story left in this election is that in Scotland, seats are at risk across the country,” he said.
But Starmer also warned that day not to be overly concerned about the Conservatives downplaying their own prospects. “You can see what the Conservatives are doing – they’re trying to invite people not to exercise their democratic right to go out and vote, trying to dissuade people from voting,” he said.
“A once respected political party is now saying, for 24 hours, do nothing positive and everything is negative, effectively launching a campaign to suppress the vote.”
Writing in the Guardian, Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner promised “change will begin immediately” if Starmer reaches 10th, and called on voters to help secure a supermajority. “We need a clear mandate for change – don’t doubt that.”
The Lib Dems also look set to capitalize on the Conservatives’ decline and tactical voting to restore the party’s coalition-era strength.
Party leader Ed Davey wrote in the Guardian on Wednesday that his campaign had been dominated by outlandish stunts and that his mission was to “defeat as many Tory MPs as possible… beyond More and more people are paying attention to how best to use their votes to achieve goals.” An end to Conservative rule and the beginning of a more progressive and positive era. “
