Boris Johnson is "on course" to win the general election, Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson has said before having to deny that she was "conceding" the win to the Tories.

Ms Swinson was also again put on the backfoot for voting through cuts in the coalition government, telling the BBC "I am really sorry we did not win more battles" in Whitehall.

Ms Swinson made the unexpected admission three weeks before the Dec 12 election after polls suggested the publication of manifestos by Labour and the Liberal Democrats had failed to dent the Tories' poll lead.

The comments were in stark contrast to the optimism of the party's campaign launch on November 5 when Ms Swinson said she could be Prime Minister.

She said then: “I never thought I’d stand here and say that I’m a candidate to be prime minister. But when I look at Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn, I am absolutely certain I could do a better job than either of them.”