Britain’s Conservative Party all but conceded election defeat to Labour on Wednesday, a day before polling stations opened, and warned that the opposition party was on course for a record-breaking victory.

Opinion polls show the centre-left Labour Party is set for a big win in Thursday’s vote that would end 14 years of Conservative government and hand Keir Starmer the keys to the prime minister’s office at Number 10 Downing Street on Friday morning.

Both Starmer and Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak kicked off the last day of campaigning by warning voters of dire economic consequences if the other wins.

But, facing predictions of the worst result in the party’s history, the Conservatives turned their focus to damage limitation, saying they need to hang on to enough seats to provide an effective opposition to a Labour government.

“I totally accept that where the polls are at the moment means that tomorrow is likely to see the largest Labour landslide majority, the largest majority that this country has ever seen,” Conservative minister Mel Stride told the BBC.

“What therefore matters now is what kind of opposition do we have, what kind of ability to scrutinise government is there within parliament.”

Asked abour Stride’s comments, Sunak told ITV: “I’m fighting hard for every vote”.

Polling analysis by Survation sees Labour winning 484 of the 650 seats in parliament, far more than the 418 won by the party’s former leader Tony Blair in his 1997 landslide victory, and the most in its history.

The Conservatives were predicted to win just 64 seats, which would be the fewest since the party was founded in 1834.

Other analyses have shown smaller margins of victory for Labour, but none have shown a different overall outcome.