Boris Johnson has warned voters of the perils of a “sledgehammer majority” for Labour that would deliver “the most Left-wing government since the war”.

In a surprise appearance at a Conservative Party rally on Tuesday night, the former prime minister said it was “not too late” to “draw back from the brink” and stop Labour, urging his audience to “tell everyone else” the same.

Otherwise, he said, Sir Keir Starmer would win power because “too many good kind moderate Tories” are about to vote for other parties which would mean they get “exactly the opposite of what they really want”.

Mr Johnson, who in 2022 blamed Rishi Sunak for helping to bring about his downfall as prime minister by resigning as chancellor in 2022, buried the hatchet to put the Conservative Party first.

Until now Mr Johnson had stayed away from the campaign trail, offering only to record supportive videos for any candidates who requested them.

The two were in contact by text message last week, The Telegraph understands, which led to Mr Johnson’s appearance at the rally in the National Army Museum in London.

His speech came ahead of the final day of campaigning on Wednesday, with Mr Sunak expected to launch a last-ditch attempt to win over swing voters with warnings that Labour will tax their homes, pensions and cars.

Introducing Mr Sunak on stage on Tuesday evening, Mr Johnson told cheering supporters: “We cannot just sit back as a Labour government prepares to use a sledgehammer majority to destroy so much of what we achieved – what you achieved.”

He continued: “I am here for one reason and one reason only – the same reason as you – we are here because we love our country, and whatever our differences they are utterly trivial by comparison with the disaster we face if these opinion polls are right – and it is a big if. I think the British people will still show more sense on Thursday, still draw back from the brink.”

Mr Johnson warned of a Labour majority “pregnant with horrors” hours after the latest poll suggested that though the Tories have narrowed the gap on Labour slightly to 19 points, Sir Keir’s party is heading for a vast majority in the Commons. Another new poll suggested the Tories would win just 64 seats.

Suella Braverman has declared the election battle “over”, saying the fight to save the Conservatives from extinction must now begin.

Mr Johnson’s appearance came after The Telegraph revealed how the Tory campaign was turning to the former prime minister in the final weeks to play an increased role to win over Conservative waverers.
Boris Johnson made a surprise appearance
Boris Johnson made a surprise appearance Credit: Bloomberg

He was cheered by the audience as he said Labour would make the UK “nothing but the punk of Brussels” by reintroducing free movement and copying EU laws.

Sir Keir, he said, was a “disciple” of Jeremy Corbyn. “At the very moment when this country has beaten Covid and beaten post-Covid inflation, at the very moment when we should be encouraging enterprise, and growth, and putting money back into people’s pockets – Westminster is about to lurch in diametrically the wrong direction,” he said.

He went on: “Five years ago you helped to send Jeremy Corbyn and his then disciple Keir Starmer into orbit – and we got Brexit done…and is it not the height of insanity, if these polls are right, we are about to give Labour a supermajority which they will use to make us nothing but the punk of Brussels – taking EU law, but with no say in how it is made, paying into Brussels budgets again.

“You watch – scrapping the Rwanda scheme just as it is on the verge of coming into force, just as it is being imitated by governments across the world, just as it is actually beginning to act as a deterrent and bringing back uncontrolled free movement as the price of Starmer’s deal with the EU. Does this country really want to give Starmer that kind of mandate?”

Taking aim at Reform UK and its leader Nigel Farage, he warned people against voting for parties that “turn out to be full of Kremlin crawlers who actually make excuses for Putin’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine”.

“They say Putin’s a good operator, runs a tight ship,” he said. “And if that’s what they mean by a man who shoots journalists and poisons his opponents and murders thousands of innocent Ukrainian civilians – I say shame on them.

“They can achieve nothing in this election except to usher in the most Left-wing Labour government since the war, with a huge majority, and we must not let it happen. Don’t let the Putinistas deliver the Corbynistas.”

Mr Sunak thanked his former boss as he followed him on stage, saying: “I’ve got to thank Boris for being here, thank him for his support. Isn’t it great?”

He added that “Boris is right to say now is the time for all Conservatives to come together”, saying: “Just think, it was just the other day when Keir Starmer was saying that Jeremy Corbyn would have been a better Prime Minister than Boris. That is shameful!”

Mr Johnson’s intervention came as Mrs Braverman said the party needed to rediscover its “soul” and move back to the Right if it is to reconnect with voters.

Writing for The Telegraph, she warned failure to change course would “allow Starmer a clear run at destroying our country for good”.

She also highlighted the threat of Reform UK, saying that the Tories were “haemorrhaging votes” to Nigel Farage’s party after moving too close to the centre.

Her comments coincided with a new opinion poll by Redfield and Wilton that showed the gap to Labour slightly narrowing, and a drop in support for Reform. However, Sir Keir’s party is still leading the Tories by 19 points, leaving it on course for a comfortable majority on Thursday.

Mrs Braverman, a fierce critic of Mr Sunak who resigned from his Cabinet over his stance on illegal migration, has been touted as a future leadership contender if the Conservatives are consigned to opposition.

Meanwhile, in an interview with The Telegraph, Mel Stride, the Work and Pensions Secretary, said Labour would also repeat the mistakes of the Blair era and send the benefits bill “spiralling out of control”.