Johnson’s appearance in Tory campaign ‘a bit weird’, says Lib Dem Davey

Sir Ed Davey has said the Tories’ decision to bring Boris Johnson into their campaign is “a bit weird”.

The Liberal Democrat leader accused Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of “desperate tactics” and said his party is instead “talking about the future” as campaigners make their final pitches to voters before polling stations open their doors at 7am on Thursday.

Rounding off his six-week-long, stunt-packed campaign, Sir Ed visited a farm near Chippenham in Wiltshire where drove a yellow JCB tractor.

He told campaigners he was in “the Blue Wall across rural Britain – and the yellow tractor is coming for it”.

He also visited Abbey Gardens near Winchester Cathedral, where he told the PA news agency: “I think the Conservatives’ desperate tactics are a bit weird, reminding people of the failures – the failures of Boris Johnson, the failures of Liz Truss, of Rishi Sunak.

“I think people want them out and they want to know what you’re going to do in the future. The Conservatives have failed and what Liberal Democrats are saying – we’re talking about the future.

“We’re talking about our plan to rescue our NHS, to invest in care, to help people with the cost of living, to make sure the sewage scandal is dealt with.

“And I think that positive campaign is what people want to hear about, not the negative stuff, not the failures of the Conservatives.”

Former prime minister Mr Johnson spoke at a Conservative Party campaign rally at the National Army Museum in Chelsea alongside Mr Sunak.

He told supporters Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer would try to “usher in the most left-wing Labour government since the war”.

Mr Sunak said: “Isn’t it great to have our Conservative family united, my friends?”

The Prime Minister has said he will spend his final campaign day in southern England, a region where Sir Ed has set his sights.

Asked about how he felt ahead of polling day, Sir Ed said he was “a bit nervous” but added: “We’ve such a great response from people”.

He also said his campaigners had heard from “lifelong Conservatives switch to the Liberal Democrats and with Labour and Green supporters realising they can’t win, being willing to lend us their vote so we can beat the Conservative candidates – it looks really good for us”.

From the cab of the tractor in Chippenham, Sir Ed told his supporters he was in “the Blue Wall across rural Britain – and the yellow tractor is coming for it”.

He turned his attention to rural communities and said: “When we talk to people, whether farmers or people across rural Britain, they say the Conservatives don’t seem to care anymore and have taken them for granted.”

The party leader added: “There is a big issue on farming that we’re talking about today, rural communities and rural health, and the yellow tractor is knocking down the Blue Wall in those rural areas.”

The Liberal Democrats’ tour bus, named Yellow Hammer 1, has parked up in several constituencies throughout the South East and South West on the campaign trail, including Chippenham where Sir Ed hosted a barbecue in June.

Other stops on the tour have included a visit to Paignton in Devon, where he built sandcastles with campaigners and their children; Yeovil in Somerset where he took part in a wheelbarrow race; Frome, also in Somerset, where he sped down the Ultimate Slip n Slide attraction; Bude in Cornwall for a surf lesson; and an obstacle course in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.