General election live news: Labour ‘heading for extraordinary landslide’ as Boris makes final push for Tory votes

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.”

Addressing a crowd of Conservative Party supporters, former prime minister Boris Johnson told them Sir Keir Starmer would try to “usher in the most left-wing Labour government since the war”.

Making a reference to “other parties” allegedly “full of Kremlin crawlers”, Mr Johnson said: “Don’t let the Putinistas deliver the Corbynistas. Don’t let Putin’s pet parrots give this entire country psittacosis – which is a disease you get by the way from cosying up to pet parrots.”

He added: “Everybody if you actually want higher taxes next week, this year, if you feel you’ve got a few thousand to spare, then vote Labour on Thursday. If you want uncontrolled immigration and mandatory wokery, and pointless kowtowing to Brussels again, then go right ahead, make my day, vote for Starmer.

“But if you want to protect our democracy and our economy and keep this country strong abroad by spending 2.5% of our GDP on defence which Labour still refuses to commit to, then you know what to do, don’t you, everybody?

“There’s only one thing to do – vote Conservative on Thursday my friends and I know you will. I know you will.”

The cabinet is made up of about 20 senior ministers, each appointed by the prime minister and most with their own department.

One in seven young Black and Asian Britons are making concrete plans to leave the UK due to government failings, racism and economic worries, a new study suggests.

A survey by research consultancy Word on the Curb found 15 per cent of 18 to 34-year-olds in this group are actively exploring options to emigrate, while a further 51% of those polled said they had recently thought about moving abroad.

Among key reasons given for wanting to leave, 39 per cent of respondents cited the cost of living crisis, 28 per cent dissatisfaction with the current government, while 19 per cent said racial inequality was a factor.

Ms David’s move follows that of Liam Booth-Isherwood, who was standing in the seat of Erewash under the Reform banner but also dropped out of the race saying he had become “increasingly disillusioned” with the behaviour of the party, citing a “significant moral issue” within its ranks.

The policies within these documents explain what each party would aim to achieve during their time in power, should they successfully secure a parliamentary majority.

In a leaked recording obtained by The Guardian, he said: “If I were American I’d want the border closed, I’d be all in favour of building a wall. I’d want to build a wall in the middle of the English Channel,” the former cabinet minister said.

Millions of voters in Britain are going to the polls on Thursday July 4 to choose a new Prime Minister and a new government.

Voters will elect 650 MPs representing as many constituencies, or local areas, and the leader of the party that returns the most lawmakers will become prime minister.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives are widely expected to lose to the main opposition party, the left-of-center Labour, after 14 years in power under five different prime ministers.