Suella Braverman has declared that the election is already “over” - 24 hours before polls open.
The right-wing former home secretary hit out at Rishi Sunak as she said the “fight for the soul of the Conservative Party” has now begun.
Her comments came as a new opinion poll said there was a 99% chance of Labour winning even more seats that Tony Blair did in 1997.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Braverman said: “One needs to read the writing on the wall – it’s over, and we need to prepare for the reality and frustration of opposition.
“The fight for the soul of the Conservative Party will determine whether we allow Starmer a clear run at destroying our country for good, or have a chance to redeem it in due course. Indeed, it will decide whether our party continues to exist at all.”
Taking aim at the policies pursued by Sunak since he became prime minister in 2022, Braverman went on: “We failed to cut immigration or tax, or to deal with the net zero and the woke policies we have presided over for 14 years.”
She said the Tories need to ask themselves why Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party “has galvanised the electorate and lured so many of our life-long supporters”
“Millions of traditional Tory voters simply aren’t wrong,” she said. “In house after house, lifelong Conservatives are furious with our party. At worst, they feel betrayed and politically homeless.
“We may lose hundreds of excellent MPs because of our abject inability to have foreseen this inevitability months ago – that our failure to unite the Right would destroy us.”
Braverman is expected to be one of the contenders for the Tory leadership if, as expected, Sunak quits following the election.
Others include Priti Patel, Kemi Badenoch, Penny Mordaunt and Steve Baker.