Three final polls forecast big Labour wins, but a massive majority could be a blessing and a curse for Starmer

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With hours to go before the polls opened on Thursday, the parties’ expectation management machines went into overdrive. The cabinet minister Mel Stride, one of the only senior Tories to willingly defend the party’s record during the campaign, conceded his party faced electoral oblivion. Meanwhile, Labour activists warned of jitters over swathes of “shy Reformers” backing Nigel Farage’s hard-right party.

Three final polls forecast big Labour wins, with the Tories projected to tot up their worst-ever losses and a series of long-held records expected to be broken.