London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Sep 11, 2026

Johnson and Corbyn make last pitches of campaign

Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn are focusing on Brexit and public services in their final hours of campaigning.

In their last interviews with the BBC ahead of Thursday's poll, Mr Johnson repeated his main pledges, saying: "Only if you get Brexit done [can you] move the country forward."

Meanwhile, Mr Corbyn said there was a "greater understanding" from the public that the country "cannot go on with underfunded public services".

The polls will open at 07:00 GMT.

Both leaders held their final rallies in London on Wednesday night.

Other party leaders also travelled the country on the last day before the election to win support from undecided voters.

Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson said votes for her party could stop Brexit, adding: "Our country can be better than what Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn are trying to say is the only way forward."

The SNP's Nicola Sturgeon said a vote for her party was a vote to stop further cuts to public services and to "stop Scotland being dragged out of the EU against its will".

Nigel Farage warned against Mr Johnson's deal to leave the EU, calling for voters in Leave seats to back his Brexit Party.

And Green Party co-leaders Sian Berry and Jonathan Bartley urged voters to make it a moment of political reckoning on the climate, saying their party would make sure proper action was taken to meet carbon emission targets.


'Amazing agenda'

Talking to the BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg, Mr Johnson said he thought the election result would be "very close", and that "every vote counts".

Asked if he deserved to win, he said: "I do think that we have the best programme for the country, we have an amazing agenda. We want to unite and level up across the country."

Mr Johnson said the Conservatives' plans - including a law to ensure extra funding for the NHS every year and 20,000 new police offices - were "fantastically ambitious".

He added: "We can achieve all of these things. But we can't if our politics is paralysed by Brexit. We have to move it forward."

Asked about his reaction to the photo of a sick boy who had to sleep on the floor of a hospital due to a lack of beds, Mr Johnson said: "Obviously I think that anybody who experiences a bad time in the NHS has my full, full sympathies.

"We've all been there and anybody who has had a bad experience in A&E will know exactly how that family feels, and that is why I want to concentrate on getting cash into the NHS, taking the country forward."

But he reiterated that "only if you get Brexit done [can you] move the country forward".

Speaking at his final rally in London, Mr Johnson there was "24 hours to break the deadlock".

He said the Conservative government would "make sure we give our children and grandchildren the future they deserve in this country".

Mr Johnson ended by saying: "Let's get Brexit done and take this incredible country forwards together."


'Incredible message'

Also speaking to Laura Kuenssberg, Mr Corbyn said he had a "hunch" that the polling experts - who have predicted a solid leader for the Conservatives over Labour - "may just have got it wrong".

"We have travelled all round the country and the enthusiasm of our party's supporters working together to get out there with our message is incredible - and I think that message is getting through," he said.

"I think the support is growing and there is a greater understanding that we cannot go on with underfunded public services and a government that has not been straightforward with us on Brexit or the trade talks with the USA."

Asked about candidates who have expressed concerns about negative feedback on the doorsteps - including a leaked recording of shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth casting doubts on Labour's chances in the poll - Mr Corbyn said: "You show me a candidate at any election that isn't worried from any party.

"Being a candidate means you get worried. But I tell you what, we are going to win this thing."

If there is a Labour government on Friday morning, Mr Corbyn said the first thing he would do was "deal with the worst levels of poverty in Britain" - namely the homeless - saying: "Something must be done very quickly, very urgently and that is what we are going to do."

Also holding his final rally in London, Mr Corbyn said the country was "literally at a fork in the road".

He told supporters there had "never been a clearer choice" in British history than at this election, and that his party would redistribute wealth and power "in a way that's never been seen before".

Mr Corbyn concluded with a poem, saying: "My guitar is not for the rich. No, nothing like that. My song is of the ladder we are building to reach the stars."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
English Councils to Gain Power to Introduce Tourist Taxes by 2028
Kemi Badenoch Reshuffles Conservative Shadow Cabinet
Firefighters Make Progress Containing Major Wildfires in South Wales
John Lewis Partnership Reports £124 Million Loss
Study Says UK AI Data Centres Will Create Only a Quarter of Forecast Jobs
UK Government Considers Higher Industrial Water Prices Amid Supply Pressures
Andy Burnham Holds First Call With Donald Trump as UK Prime Minister
NHS Records Busiest Summer on Record as Heatwaves Drive Hospital Admissions
Home Secretary Orders Police Crackdown on Far-Right Anti-Migrant Vigilantes
UK Supreme Court Rules Northern Ireland Religious Education Curriculum Breaches Human Rights Standards
Markets Price in Four Bank of England Rate Rises by Next Summer
House of Commons Prepares Free Vote on Assisted Dying Bill
UK Government Bans Trade With Israeli Settlements in Occupied Territories
UK Economy Grows 0.4% in July as Artificial Intelligence Investment Supports Expansion
Andy Burnham Becomes UK Prime Minister After Keir Starmer Resigns
John Lewis Partnership Loss Widens to £124 Million
UK Government to Put White Working-Class Social Mobility at Centre of Equality Policy
McLaren Plans £450 Million Technology Investment Creating 1,000 UK Jobs
UK Chancellor Faces Calls for Wealth Taxes and Public Ownership in Autumn Budget
English Mayors to Gain Powers to Impose Uncapped Overnight Tourist Taxes
JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon Warns UK Government Against Bank Windfall Taxes
UK Air Traffic Control Outage Cancels More Than 2,000 Flights
UK Imposes Trade Ban on Israeli Settlements in the West Bank
UK Borrowing Costs Surge as Middle East Tensions Push Long-Term Gilt Yields to Highest Since 1998
Buckingham Palace Says Prince Harry and Meghan Will Not Resume Official Royal Duties
UK Treasury Faces Calls to Scrap £100,000 Childcare Support Threshold
Trades Union Congress Urges Labour Government to Rewrite Migration Policy
Riot Police Deployed After Anti-Migrant Protests Turn Violent in Portsmouth
UK Considers Replacing Some Disability Cash Payments With Direct Services
JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon Warns UK Chancellor Against Higher Banking Taxes
UK Announces New Sanctions Targeting Israeli Settlements in West Bank
Metropolitan Police Investigate Alleged Illegal Donations to Reform UK
UK Charges Wiltshire Man With Assisting Russian Intelligence
UK Orders Urgent Review After Air Traffic Failure Cancels More Than 2,000 Flights
Merz Rebukes AfD Expansion in Saxony-Anhalt
King Charles Confirms Prince Harry and Meghan Will Remain Private Citizens
Labour Selects Former Child Refugee for By-Election in Keir Starmer’s Former Seat
Foreign Private Equity Accelerates Takeovers of London-Listed Industrial Companies
NHS Maternity Care Faces Scrutiny Over Support for Mothers After Caesarean Births
BBC Warns Staff Strikes Are Likely Amid Job Cuts and Programme Cancellations
English Housing Affordability Improves to Best Level in More Than a Decade
UK Health Commission Proposes Framework for Wider AI Adoption Across NHS
Labour Faces Pressure for Wealth Tax Ahead of Autumn Budget
Metropolitan Police Open Criminal Investigation Into Alleged Foreign Donations to Reform UK
UK Police Deploy Riot Officers After Anti-Immigration Unrest in Portsmouth and Dover
UK Defends Sanctions on Israeli Settlements Despite Diplomatic Retaliation
UK Air Traffic Control Failure Cancels More Than 1,000 Flights and Disrupts 65,000 Passengers
Compass Urges £10 Million Wealth Tax and Public Ownership Ahead of UK Autumn Budget
UK Government’s Devolution Plans Face House of Lords Scrutiny
Maldives Seeks New Chagos Sovereignty Talks With UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham
×