David Cameron has urged people to vote for their “preferred Prime Minister” as he kicked off a final push to election day.
The Tory leader made a direct appeal for Ukip and Liberal Democrat supporters to cast their ballots tactically and keep him in Downing Street.
Mr Cameron insisted he is the “only option” for avoiding a “calamitous” and “chilling” tie-up between Ed Miliband and the SNP.
The plea, in a speech to activists at Ambleside Sports Club in Nuneaton, comes with the polls still showing the Conservatives and Labour effectively deadlocked.
Mr Cameron pleaded for voters to “stop and think” about the danger they face.
“It’s no exaggeration to say Britain will be making an historic choice,” he said. “Ed Miliband wants us to take a sharp turn to the left. He sincerely believes more borrowing and more taxes will help you and your family. He is sincerely wrong.
“Worse because he will lose so many seats to the SNP in Scotland he cannot form a majority Government on his own.
“He keeps trying to deny it but it is a fact that he can only become prime minister with SNP support.
“Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond will extract a heavy price for that support, vote-by-vote in the House of Commons. That price is even more borrowing and taxes to pay for more welfare.
“That is the road to ruin. It would be a calamity for our country, for you and your family.”
Hoping to capitalise on his relatively strong personal ratings, Mr Cameron asked those thinking of voting Ukip or Lib Dem to switch to the Tories in order to keep him in Number 10.