Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn criss-crossed the country on the final day of a hard-fought campaign in which the Conservatives remained clear favourites to secure an overall majority despite an energetic bid for power by the Labour party.

The Labour leader attended six rallies, starting at Glasgow at 8am and ending in his own patch of Islington with a speech at 9pm, where he claimed that Labour’s anti-austerity message was the “new centre ground” of British politics.



Raising the horror of two terror attacks in Manchester and London Bridge, Corbyn said: “We can honour the victims of these atrocities tomorrow by voting, by showing democracy will never be cowed by terror and hope can triumph over fear.”

An upbeat prime minister said she was “feeling good” as she ended the final day of campaigning, with some pollsters saying she would extend her majority to dozens of seat despite a rocky campaign in which she has been forced to U-turn on controversial social care plans.

May used her final push to pitch for what she has called “fiercely patriotic” voters after spending much of the Tory campaign in Labour heartlands across the West Midlands, Yorkshire and the north-east in a significant shift from her party’s previous strategy.

During a 48-hour whistle-stop tour of places in marginal constituencies such as Fleetwood, Bradford, Stoke, Southampton and Nottingham, she also made clear that she wanted people to vote in defiance of the terror attacks.

She also stressed to voters that there were only 11 days until Brexit negotiations start, saying the choice was between her or Corbyn entering the room.

The bruising seven-week campaign has seen the Conservatives attack Corbyn and his shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, for their previous dealings with people associated with the IRA, branding them soft on terror and claiming their tax-and-spend manifesto depends on a “magic money tree”.

Theresa May speaking at the National Conference Centre in Solihull on the last day of campaigning. Photograph: Carl Court/Getty Images

After a series of difficult media interviews, Diane Abbott was replaced temporarily as shadow home secretary because of illness, described by one colleague as a “serious, long-term condition”.

Hitting back at the scale of the onslaught in an exclusive interview with the Guardian on the eve of the national poll, McDonnell said he and his colleagues had endured “unbelievable” and “relentless” Tory attacks .



“We’ve never seen anything on this scale before. It is lie after lie and lie, and by the time you’ve corrected it, it’s gone round the world,” he said, claiming he didn’t mind things being aimed at him, but said his family had been targeted as well.

McDonnell said journalists had turned up at his in-laws’ home, in Goa, India, to “interrogate them” about whether he owned property in the area. “Which of course I don’t. My father in law is extremely frail – he’s got a heart and respiratory condition. It’s appalling. Print whatever lies about me – I can take it – but leave my family out of it,” he said.

McDonnell described May’s general election campaign as an “exact reflection” of Zac Goldsmith’s Conservative bid to become London mayor, which triggered anger and accusations of dog-whistle politics.

Jeremy Corbyn campaigning in Harrow on Wednesday. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

The shadow chancellor said he was convinced that Labour was on track for victory after the “best campaign I’ve ever been involved in”. He said a Labour government would focus on squeezed living standards, with a promise of a budget by the middle of July in which he would lift the public-sector pay gap, pour money into education and the NHS and scrap tuition fees.

He also indicated a longer-term hope to use any improvement in economic conditions to lower VAT and help tackle the debt already built up by recent graduates.

But Labour MPs around the country said that Labour’s improvement in national polls was not something they had seen on the doorstep, with one northern MP telling the Guardian that colleagues were preparing for a “nuclear winter”.

Others predicted that their party would lose by between 50 and 100 seats, but made clear that senior figures in the party were urging calm on Friday, and advising against any quick attempt to remove Corbyn in the event of a heavy defeat.

They said the aim would be to avoid taking any action during the height of the emotional fallout, and to remain aware of the leadership’s huge popularity among party members. Among those being tipped as possible future leadership candidates are Yvette Cooper, Chuka Umunna, Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner. “We will need to close the gap between our urban members and the white working class voters who could desert us,” said one MP.

The mood on the campaign trail among Conservatives was upbeat. Patrick McLoughlin, the party chair, gave an indication of the seats the Tories were targeting when he told the prime minister’s final rally in the village of Meriden that the West Midlands was “vitally important to getting May returned into Downing Street with a great majority”.



In a final pitch to voters, the prime minister called on them to “fix their sights on the future and vote for a better future of fairness, security and opportunity for all”.

Key seats that could give an indication of the final result include Darlington, Hartlepool and Stoke-on-Trent South. If those are lost, it could suggest a bad night for Labour that might see the party falling below 200 MPs. On the other hand, if Corbyn’s party makes gains in places like Hendon, Ipswich or Crewe, the party could be on track to defy the polls and kick May out of power.

Sources said Labour believed it could make gains in areas such as Derby North and Croydon Central, which is held by housing minister Gavin Barwell, and Morley and Outwood, which was lost by Ed Balls in 2015.

Meanwhile, Lib Dems remained positive despite a suggestion that their fightback – predicted at the start of the campaign – never really materialised. Sources said the party could take seats such as St Alban’s and Vauxhall, as well as a couple of constituencies in Scotland.

Tim Farron speaking to Lib Dem supporters in Bath on the final day of campaigning. Photograph: Victoria Jones/PA

After a gruelling final day, the Liberal Democrat leader, Tim Farron, urged Labour voters in key seats to lend his party a vote. “If you are a Conservative voter, do you really trust Theresa May with five more years to cut your local school or hospital? And if you support Labour in a seat where only the Liberal Democrats can beat the Conservatives, I need you to lend us your vote.

“We will stand up for you on Europe, on schools and hospitals, and to stop the heartless dementia tax. So stand up and make your vote count for the Liberal Democrats today.”

The SNP are hoping to maintain their dominance north of the border in the face of pressure from the Tories, with leader Nicola Sturgeon hitting out at the prime minister’s character and ability to negotiate in a Guardian interview.

The nationalists have tried to squeeze Labour and the Lib Dems by pitching themselves as the only progressive alternative to the Tories in Scotland, during a bitter fight that has led to some angry exchanges with Labour’s Scottish leader, Kezia Dugdale.

Meanwhile, Ukip entered the final day facing a squeeze from May’s tough messages on immigration and Brexit.

Angela Rayner, the shadow education secretary, said she had changed her mind and was now convinced Labour could win. She said: “There are people who will never accept Jeremy’s kind of leadership, because he’s not your slick, shiny-suit, Cameron, Blair type figure. He’s completely different to that: I’d say he’s more of your geography teacher. He’s not that macho type of leader.

“I genuinely think we can win this election, and I wouldn’t have said this at the beginning of the campaign, but I think we can.”

