Labour is heading for an “extraordinary landside” victory on a scale probably never seen before in Britain, a Cabinet minister said on Wednesday.
As Tories despair over the threat of a crushing defeat on July 4, Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride told GB News: “If you look at the polls it’s pretty clear that Labour at this stage are heading for an extraordinary landside on a scale that has probably, never ever been seen in this country before.
“That is why it’s so important that Boris’ (Johnson) message, my message, the Prime Minister’s message is...this is not a by-election tomorrow, this is going to set what happens to the next five, maybe ten years.”
“Let’s have a Parliament that can hold the government to account.”
Later, just some 24 hours before polls open, he told Times Radio: “We are on the brink probably of the largest landslide we will have ever seen in this country, larger than ‘97, larger than the National Government of 1931.
"Those polls, unless it's an extraordinary upset, which is highly unlikely, you're going to get a Labour government, you're going to get the change.”
He urged voters, who may previously have backed the Tories but are now leaning to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK or to the Liberal Democrats, in 100 key marginal seats to think again as they go into the polling booth on Thursday.
Mr Stride’s startling comments, which stopped just short of conceding defeat, came after Survation pollsters found Labour is on course to win more seats than it did in 1997.
The polling firm interviewed 34,558 respondents online and by phone and have said a Labour landslide of more than 418 seats - the number which the party took under Tony Blair's leadership 27 years ago - is "99 per cent certain".
At the same time, former Home Secretary Suella Braverman said the Tories would lose the election.
“One needs to read the writing on the wall – it’s over, and we need to prepare for the reality and frustration of opposition,” she wrote in The Telegraph.
“The fight for the soul of the Conservative party will determine whether we allow Starmer a clear run at destroying our country for good, or have a chance to redeem it in due course. Indeed, it will decide whether our party continues to exist at all.”
Ms Braverman is expected to be a possible leadership contender if Rishi Sunak resigns after an election defeat.
But amid the Tory gloom, Sir Keir Starmer refused to entertain suggestions he will lead his party to a landslide victory.
He stressed: “People are saying the polls predict the future - they don’t predict the future, every single vote counts, every single vote has to be earned and in places like this it’ll probably go down to a few hundred either way and therefore the worst thing for people who want change is to think ‘job done’ and ‘we don’t need to vote because there’s going to be a majority in any event’.
“It isn’t ‘job done’.”
Sir Keir, who is set to visit England, Wales and Scotland on the final day of campaigning, added: “Given that the country is pretty broken at the moment, a lot of things aren’t working, there’s a big job for us to do if we come in to serve and we need a strong mandate for that.”
Boris Johnson increased his support to Rishi Sunak as the election campaigns were nearing their end.
At a rally on Tuesday, Mr Sunak hailed the “Conservative family united” after an appearance by his predecessor Mr Johnson and claimed just 130,000 voters could help stem his party’s predicted losses.
Speaking at the rally, held at the National Army Museum in Chelsea, London, the Prime Minister said: “Isn’t it great to have our Conservative family united, my friends?”
Mr Sunak added: “Now, it suits lots of people to say that the result of this election is a foregone conclusion but I know that it is not.
“Just 130,000 people switching their vote, giving us their support, is what it will take to deny Labour that supermajority they want. Every single vote matters.”
In the Liberal Democrat camp, deputy leader Daisy Cooper described Mr Johnson's intervention as "an insult".
She said: "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."
