British leaders make last-gasp pitch for votes

Party leaders were engaged in frenzied last-ditch campaigning today with just 24 hours to go until the British general election.

With polls still indicating that Britain is on course for a hung parliament, David Cameron pledged to eschew sleep and use “every second” in a bid to secure an overall majority.

However, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Nick Clegg are matching him every step of the way in a cross-country blitz as the battle reaches its climax.

Brown will have been buoyed by a daily YouGov poll for The Sun suggesting Labour has picked up ground on 30%, five points behind the Tories and six ahead of the Liberal Democrats.

Due to the way the electoral system works, the findings could leave Mr Brown in charge of the largest party if repeated evenly nationwide tomorrow.

ComRes research for ITV News and the Independent gave the Conservatives an eight point lead on 37%, ahead of Labour on 29% and the Lib Dems on 26%.

Some four in 10 of those surveyed said they had yet to make a final decision on which way to vote, reinforcing the finely balanced nature of the contest.

Neither set of results would be enough to provide one party with an outright victory.

Today’s Daily Mail warned readers attracted to the idea of a hung parliament that it would result in a “weak administration, dependent on back-room deals and shabby compromises”.

However, The Independent claimed this election campaign was an opportunity to end Britain’s “unfair and discredited voting system for ever” and that “progressively minded voters” should cast their ballots tactically to keep out the Tories.

Mr Brown delivered a rousing speech to activists in Manchester last night, urging disaffected voters to remember the Government’s achievements and “come home” to Labour.

“If you want someone with judgment, and the right values, then I urge you to stick with me,” he said.

But Mr Cameron launched a searing personal attack on the Prime Minister. He accused him of running “the most negative campaign anyone has fought in the history of modern British politics”, telling supporters in Renfrewshire: “All he has done is talk about cuts this and cuts that and he has made up untruth after untruth.

“If this is the son of a preacher man, I don’t know what we are hearing.”

Meanwhile, Mr Clegg told a crowd in Glasgow North: “Support us in our campaign in these vital last crucial hours of the election campaign and deliver the fairness, the difference, the real change that I think Glasgow and Britain deserve.”

The rallying calls followed a day dominated by rowing over tactical voting, sparked by remarks from two cabinet ministers.

Schools secretary Ed Balls and Welsh secretary Peter Hain indicated that Labour supporters should “act intelligently” over who to back in seats that were a straight fight between the Lib Dems and Tories.

However, despite the seemingly orchestrated interventions, Mr Brown and other senior figures stressed that the party needed to accumulate as many votes as possible.

“I want every Labour vote because I think people will look at the votes as a whole and they will look at what Labour has achieved,” the PM said.

In an interview with The Times, he said the best tactic was to back his party and urged supporters to go for the “maximum Labour vote”.

The Tories responded by branding the ministers “desperate” and releasing a campaign film highlighting Labour’s broken pledges from the past 13 years.

Mr Clegg also rejected the idea that people should vote tactically, saying they should follow their “hearts”.

The campaign threw up another difficult moment for Mr Brown yesterday when one of his own would-be MPs described him as Britain’s “worst Prime Minister”.

Manish Sood, the candidate for North West Norfolk, was swiftly dismissed by the party as a “maverick” standing in a safe Tory seat where Labour stood no chance and who faced censure once the election was over.