Leaders in last push for votes in 'most important election in a generation'

Leaders of the main parties are engaged in a frantic last drive for votes in a General Election both Tories and Labour have described as the most important in a generation.

With just hours to go before polls open on Thursday, Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn were criss-crossing the country in a final bid to shore up support and get out the vote.

Final opinion polls suggested that while the Conservatives remain in front, they are still not guaranteed an overall majority in the new parliament.

The Prime Minister began his day with a photo-opportunity delivering milk in the Conservative-held marginal of Pudsey in West Yorkshire, insisting he was "fighting for every vote". He said:

Mr Corbyn started his last day of campaigning in Glasgow South West - where Labour is hoping to overturn an SNP majority at the last election of just 60 - with a promise of "real hope" for voters affected by years of austerity.

Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson was concentrating her efforts on the area around London and Surrey where the party is hoping to pick up seats.

They include Esher and Walton, where polls have suggested Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab may be vulnerable, despite a majority of more than 23,000 at the 2017 general election.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was due to join SNP candidates in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling and Dunbartonshire, while Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage was heading for South Yorkshire.

Speaking in Doncaster, Mr Farage said he was hoping for "very, very heavy rain" in the town on Thursday in the belief that it would depress the votes of the other parties.

He continued:

A final constituency-by-constituency poll by YouGov forecast that the Conservatives are on course for a 28-seat majority.

However, it warned that the margin of error - together with the unknown impact of tactical voting - meant a hung parliament is still possible, as is a larger Tory majority.

The pollsters, who have analysed more than 100,000 voter interviews over the past week, calculated the Tories would win 339 seats and Labour 231.

A 28-seat majority would be the best Tory result since Margaret Thatcher's showing in 1987 - but it is sharply down from the 68-seat victory margin that was being forecast just two weeks ago.

Chris Curtis, YouGov's political research manager, said: