Image source, Reuters

Science minister Andrew Griffith has rejected the suggestion the election is "over".

It follows his colleague cabinet minister Mel Stride telling the BBC that Labour is likely to win a large majority.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's World at One programme, Griffith echoes Stride's warning that if polls are correct, Labour will win a majority “unprecedented in modern history”.

Asked whether he agreed with Suella Braverman it was over for the Tories, the minister says: "No, not at all."

He adds: "Nobody should be taking the British people for granted.

“I think what Mel was talking about was the very real jeopardy of a Labour government.”

Jenni Davidson
Politics reporter, BBC Scotland

On the final day of election campaigning, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton says his party has fought a “positive campaign of hope” on access to GPs, the NHS and education.

On a visit to a social enterprise café in Edinburgh, he says Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has had a “wonderfully colourful and positive campaign” and he hopes they inspired people.

His final message to undecided voters is that by voting Liberal Democrat people will get someone who will fight for them all year round.

He says his party will focus on big issues like the climate and relations with Europe, but also tackle smaller issues like fixing potholes and getting bins collected.

Cole-Hamilton says in few seats in Scotland, particularly in the Highlands, single voters could make the difference.

With broadcasters unable to report details of campaigning tomorrow, today is the last chance for the parties to get their messages out on the airwaves.

And the party leaders have, in their own ways, been making the case that there is still much to play for and emphasising the importance of people getting out and voting.

Here's the highlights from the day so far:

• Speaking to the BBC, Senior Conservative minister Mel Stride conceded Labour is likely to win a large majority and that what matters now is what kind of opposition they will face
• Senior Tory minister Chris Heaton-Harris made similar remarks, telling the BBC "we need to win every vote to make sure Labour have an effective opposition"
• Rishi Sunak sought to play down those remarks on ITV's This Morning, claiming Stride was warning of what a large "unchecked" majority would mean for people, and insisted he is still fighting for every vote

• Keir Starmer, on a campaign visit to Wales, claimed the Tories' messaging is trying to get people to stay home on polling day, calling it "voter suppression" and insisting if people want change they have to vote for it

• Speaking on a visit to Wiltshire, Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said that before the election his party set a target of overtaking the SNP to regain its status as the third largest in the Commons, but that he hasn't "put a ceiling" on their ambitions
• SNP leader John Swinney is on the road in Scotland, and has been telling activists that the election result is effectively a done deal in England but the contest in Scotland is too close to call

Do 'supermajority' claims add up?published at 13:07 British Summer Time 3 July 2024

13:07 BST 3 July 2024

By Tom Edgington

The Conservatives have been warning about a Labour “supermajority” after election day.

Over the last week, the term has featured in 480 separate Conservative ads on Facebook and Instagram.

But the phrase “supermajority” doesn't have any specific meaning, at least not in UK Parliamentary terms.

Once a party achieves 326 seats in the House of Commons, which is just over half, it has enough of its own MPs to pass new laws in the Commons (assuming it keeps its own MPs on side).

And getting a bigger majority doesn’t unlock any extra powers.

The Institute for Government says, external: “There is little difference between an 80-seat and a 200-seat majority”.

But it does mean less money for the opposition because they’re given cash based on the number of seats they win.

Supermajorities do officially exist in some places, including the US.

That’s because making certain things happen over in the US Congress, like overturning a presidential veto, requires a two-thirds majority.

With additional reporting by Alex Murray

Jessica Parker
Reporting from the Labour campaign

Image source, PA Media

Sir Keir Starmer has again defended his receipt of “freebies” after yesterday saying much of it was down to accepting Arsenal away game hospitality due to security concerns.

For context: Financial Times, external research showed the Labour leader had accepted £76,000 worth of entertainment, clothes and similar “freebies” from UK donors since 2019.

Pressed today by journalists about reports of £16,000 worth of free clothes, within that £76,000 figure, Starmer says the declarations were “really clear”.

“If we take money from anyone on anything, over a certain amount of money it has to be declared. I complied with all that.”

Asked if he is comfortable with that, he says: “Everything's done in accordance with the register and the public declarations.”

Asked about the overall figure yesterday, Starmer said: “Quite a lot of that was Arsenal hospitality, particularly away games where as you can appreciate my desire to go in the stands is not always met with approval by the security teams around me which inevitably means I’m in corporate hospitality if I want to see the game.”

Image source, PA Media

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has been asked if his cabinet colleague Mel Stride's comments this morning amount to an admission of defeat.

As a reminder, the work and pensions secretary said earlier that Labour could be on for a landslide majority.

Speaking to BBC Politics Live, Heaton-Harris says: "What Mel said is that if the polls are right, then it will be a Labour supermajority. We are working to make sure the polls are wrong."

He goes on to say there are "lots of votes at play" and a large number of people haven't made up their minds yet.

Pressed on whether he agrees with former Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who has said the election is "over", Heaton-Harris adds: "The polls suggest that we have lost, but we need to win every vote to make sure Labour have an effective opposition."

Over again to our BBC Newscast colleagues, who have just entered hour two of six of their live election eve All-Dayer.

Host Adam Fleming will be speaking to guests across the day - the first was David Dimbleby, former host of the BBC's election night coverage, talking about his fears for Britain's future.

He likens the country's position to the opening lines of Dante's Inferno, telling Adam: "We’re in the middle of a dark wood where the path out is not clear."

He adds: "We have huge problems of deficit, the NHS, education. So whatever government wins - and there seems no doubt about what the government’s going to be - has got five years to move mountains and I think it’s going to be a difficult, painful period.

You can listen to the Newscast election day-long special now, live on BBC Sounds.

Phil McDonald
BBC Scotland reporter

Scottish Conservatives leader Douglas Ross is campaigning in Gordon and Buchan today, a new constituency (due to boundary changes) which is likely to be a close fight between his party and the SNP.

Ross, who will step down as party leader after the election, won't say whether he agreed with his colleague Mel Stride that Labour were on course for a landslide majority.

Instead, he urges voters to back his party’s candidates who he says will focus on local priorities instead of Scottish independence.

Image source, PA Media

Rishi Sunak has tried to play down comments made by one of his senior ministers earlier today that appeared to concede Labour are likely to win a large majority.

Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Strike told the BBC this morning that with the polls as they are it's "highly likely" that Labour gets "the largest majority that any party has ever achieved".

Put to him on ITV's This Morning programme that Stride had effectively said the Tories were not going to win and it's now about reducing the size of a Labour victory, Sunak says: "He wasn't quite saying that."

"What Mel was doing was warning of what a very large Labour majority, unchecked, would mean for people," Sunak says, adding he is "fighting hard for every vote".

He also claims he has seen analysis showing that "just 130,000 people can make the difference in this election".

"So, everyone watching who thinks, 'oh, this is all a foregone conclusion', it's not," Sunak says.

Katie Hunter
Reporter, BBC Scotland

We’re in Airdrie on campaign stop number two of the day for the SNP.

Not only is there a big yellow battle bus here but also a smaller campaign van with a pre-recorded message from party leader John Swinney urging voters to support the SNP.

Over the road, in person, Swinney is telling activists that, in his view, the election is a done deal in England but in Scotland the contest is too close to call between Labour and the SNP.

Image source, PA Media

"It's disgusting."

That's the view of Scottish First Minister John Swinney on Conservative criticism of Sir Keir Starmer's wish to spend time with his family if he become prime minister.

It comes after Starmer said he would want to avoid work after 18:00 on Fridays, although he acknowledged this would not always be possible. But the Tories said this would make him "a part-time" prime minister.

Swinney, also the SNP's leader, says: "I think the Tory attack is just disgusting, to be honest."

He describes politics as a 24/7 business, but says if Starmer was prime minister he is "pretty certain" he would be available to take decisions.

Swinney adds a politician should not be criticised for wanting to spend time with their loves ones.

Image source, PA Media

Let's take a quick look at what the Liberal Democrats are up to on this final day of campaigning. Speaking from Chippenham in Wiltshire, leader Sir Ed Davey says he is "not complacent" as his party looks to make a breakthrough in tomorrow's elections.

He tells the BBC his party set a target before the election of winning more seats than the SNP and becoming the third largest group in the Commons again.

Davey says that voters in "former Tory heartlands" are turning to his party, and adds: "We haven't put a ceiling on our ambitions."

He refuses to be drawn on one recent poll which suggested his party could win more seats than the Conservatives and become the official opposition.

Asked about Boris Johnson's surprise entrance into the campaign last night, Davey says it's "bizarre" the Tories are "reminding people of their failures".

Jessica Parker
Travelling on the Labour campaign bus

Sir Keir Starmer says he’s “not worried in the slightest” by Boris Johnson’s intervention last night.

He described Johnson as “Exhibit A” of the argument that Labour has been making, that the Tories are chaotic and divided.

“I’m only assuming that sometime about lunchtime today there’ll be a joint press conference with Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak on economic stability.”

Let's return to Mel Stride's comments from earlier today that Labour was likely to win the largest majority in British political history.

Rishi Sunak has previously warned of Labour winning a "supermajority", but has insisted he hasn't given up on winning.

But the work and pensions secretary, who worked on Sunak's leadership campaign, said he accepted that the Conservatives were highly likely to be defeated by a landslide.

The BBC's chief political correspondent says it's not normal for a politician to concede defeat in this way.

Jessica Parker
Travelling on the Labour campaign bus

A side note to the serious campaign stuff.

Parties love a bit of branding to catch the eye.

And as we kick off the day’s campaigning in Carmarthenshire, Labour branded Welsh cakes have been produced.

Mark Palmer
BBC Wales

Plaid Cymru says Sir Keir Starmer’s visit to Carmarthenshire on the final day of the election campaign shows that the party is a threat to Labour.

Plaid is hoping to do well across the west of Wales and the party’s Liz Saville Roberts says Labour “are worried about Plaid Cymru”.

Senior Labour politician Jo Stevens says “change will only happen” across the UK if people back Starmer.

They were both speaking on Radio Wales Breakfast.

Liz Saville Roberts says UK Labour are “taking Wales for granted” because they aren’t offering more powers and cash to the Welsh government.

She says the Conservatives offer “relentless negativity” with “nothing to offer, just criticism and doing Wales down”.

Jessica Parker
Travelling on the Labour campaign bus

As Labour kicks off the final day of campaigning, the mood is buoyant.

I’m in a room packed with activists and candidates in south-west Wales.

There’s now a real buzz around what has been a cautious campaign - some critics even say it’s been boring and unambitious.

But Sir Keir Starmer arrived earlier to a huge applause from party supporters.

People here are excited.

Labour is finally daring to believe it could win even though the far more careful public messaging will persist.

“There are a lot of undecided voters,” Starmer told the room.

People, he said, still need convincing.

Starmer is then asked by the BBC about the Conservatives' messaging, following cabinet minister Mel Stride saying we're likely to see the UK's biggest majority from Labour.

Starmer says he thinks the Tories have run a negative campaign and they are failing to tell the country what positive change they would bring.

He says: "It's really voter suppression. It's trying to get people to stay at home rather than to go out and vote.

"I say, if you want change, you have to vote for it."

Image source, EPA

Last night, we saw Boris Johnson at a Conservative Party campaign event for the first time since the election was called.

Sir Keir Starmer has just been asked if it worries him that a former Tory leader who has won over undecided voters before has decided to get involved.

He says: "Not in the slightest. I’ve been arguing that the last 14 years have been about chaos and division - and last night, they wheeled out the architect of chaos and division.

"That just shows the desperate, negative place they’ve got to in their campaign."

The Labour leader also repeats his message that many constituencies will "go down to the wire", urging voters to back his party on Thursday.

Gareth Lewis
BBC Wales political editor

Keir Starmer’s first visit of the day to a farm in the Caerfyrddin constituency is a deliberate attempt to park his tractor on Plaid Cymru’s field.

Both they, and perhaps the Conservatives, might be assumed more likely to harvest the farming vote.

The Welsh Labour government has also run into resistance over its plans for post-EU agricultural subsidies.

But it’s close here - the latest poll out yesterday suggests the seat is too close to call.