Final plea for votes as UK heads to polls

Sturgeon calls for voters from left-wing parties to back SNP to keep the Tories out of office

Party leaders delivered their final pitches to voters as average polls showed the gap between Conservative and Labour continuing to tighten.

A poll of polls, which was compiled by the Britain Elects website on Wednesday, puts the gap at eight points, which is the closest margin they have calculated since last autumn. Survation analysis puts the Tory lead at just one point over Labour, but ComRes has the gap at 12 points.

Jeremy Corbyn kick-started a tour of mainland Britain on Wednesday by telling supporters in Glasgow his movement had been under-rated by the establishment. “They underestimated us didn’t they?” he said in Buchanan Street.

“They underestimated the good sense of ordinary people all over Britain.”

He added: “If you want a Labour government, if you want to get rid of a Tory government, our party is not doing deals, we’re not offering anything other than us, our manifesto and our principles.”

On his final trip of the campaign to Wales, Mr Corbyn took an apparent dig at the transport options used by Theresa May and Nicola Sturgeon during the campaign. About to catch a train, he said: “I don’t have a private jet, I don’t have a helicopter. I think some people go around in private jets, I can’t imagine who it is.”

Theresa May, who was campaigning across England, was making a last ditch effort to convince voters who do not normally back the Conservatives.

“I would say to people it’s not a question of how they’ve voted before, it’s a question of who they want to see taking this country through not just the next five years but setting the direction of this country for the future.”

She said they would stand up for those who “want to see good jobs for their children, who want their children to get a good quality of education, who want the public services to be there to support them when they need it”.

Asked if she had any regrets about the campaign, she replied: “No, I’ve enjoyed the campaign.

“Obviously the two terrible terror attacks have been something that nobody wants to see taking place at any time, including during an election campaign. But, outside of those, I’ve enjoyed the campaign and particularly enjoyed getting out and about and meeting people across the country.”

Nicola Sturgeon was in the SNP stronghold of Leith, appealing to voters who normally vote for parties on the left.

“I’ve got a message today to people across our country who normally vote Labour or Liberal Democrat,” she said.

“I understand your loyalty to your party, and I understand that you do not agree with the SNP on everything, you may disagree very strongly with us on some things. But, I ask you to think about this. A vote tomorrow for Labour or Liberal Democrats, parties who are in third and fourth position in Scotland risks doing one thing and one thing only – splitting the anti-Tory vote and allowing a Tory MP in the back door.”

“And to Labour voters in particular, I offer this reassurance. If you lend the SNP your vote tomorrow to keep the Tories out then you can be assured that you will be electing SNP MPs who might not agree with him on everything, but who agree with Jeremy Corbyn on more than Kezia Dugdale and Scottish Labour agree with Jeremy Corbyn.”

Lib Dem leader Tim Farron, who was on six-stop tour on the eve of the poll, said the Tories cannot be trusted to handle withdrawal negotiations.

“They can’t even write a manifesto they can stand by, yet they want you to trust them with the biggest negotiations this country has ever done,” he said.

The Conservatives had a working majority of 17 before Mrs May caught the nation off guard on April 18 by calling a snap general election.

While most major polling firms have reported a narrowing of the gap between the Tories and Labour, they have all predicted that Mrs May will be the largest party. The SNP took 56 of the 59 seats in Scotland in 2015 and are widely predicted to lose some of those, while still holding an overall majority north of the border.

Voting opens at 7am and runs until 10pm at the UK’s 650 constituencies.