General Election 2015: We're about to make history at Westminster, Nicola Sturgeon says

The SNP leader predicts a 'watershed' general election result which will see her party replace Labour as the dominant political force in Scotland

Nicola Sturgeon marked the final day of campaigning with a speech to activists at the Mound in Edinburgh (Getty Images)

The SNP is within “touching distance” of making history at Westminster, Nicola Sturgeon said, as she predicted a “watershed” general election result which will see her party replace Labour as the dominant political force in Scotland.

Admitting that her party was in a “wonderful position” ahead of polling day, she told a rally in central Edinburgh that more power for Scotland was “within our grasp” and sought to reassure voters in other parts of the UK that they had no reason to fear the SNP.

Although Ms Sturgeon is not personally standing for a seat at Westminster, she has capitalised on Scottish voters’ disillusionment with Labour – particularly since last year’s referendum campaign – to sell her party as a “progressive” force for change. Polls suggest the SNP could win as many as 50 of the country’s 59 seats.

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Addressing an enthusiastic crowd of supporters undeterred by the heavy spring drizzle, the First Minister said: “The weather may be a wee bit dreich in Edinburgh this morning, but let me tell you this: the outlook for Scotland is sunny – very sunny.”

Over the past four weeks Ms Sturgeon has emerged as the SNP’s most powerful weapon in the general election campaign, winning fans both north and south of the border with her assured performances on the televised debates. So it was fitting that she began her final speech like a rock star addressing a packed arena.

SNP activists show their support for Nicola Sturgeon on the eve of the election (PA)

“Can you all hear me? I’m not sure I can hear you, make some more noise,” she cried, as the crowd – who had come bearing placards reading “I’m with Nicola” – cheered wildly. Her speech lasted only seven minutes; the obligatory selfies with beaming supporters far longer.

“At the heart of this campaign lies this simple truth: the more seats the SNP wins tomorrow, the more power Scotland is going to have, and that is the prize that is now within our grasp,” she said.

“We are now within touching distance, if we continue to work hard today and tomorrow, of doing something the SNP has never done in our history – winning a Westminster election. If we do that, then the voice of Scotland is going to be heard more loudly at Westminster than it has ever been heard before.”

Before fighting her way through the crowd to the waiting car, Ms Sturgeon said she believed Scotland was heading for a “watershed” election result – but that like the rest of the country, she would now simply “have to wait and see how people vote”.

She also revealed that she will be in London on 8 May, where frantic negotiations between the parties are likely to be held in the event of a hung parliament. However, she stressed that she would be “representing the Scottish Government” at the VE Day commemorations rather than taking part in any back-room deals.

“I’ll let the Scottish people do the talking tomorrow in the polling stations and at the ballot boxes, then the politicians on Friday morning have a duty to respect the outcome,” she said.

As she posed for pictures activists began singing Scotland’s unofficial national anthems “Caledonia” and “Scotland the Brave”, and a few hours later at First Minister’s Questions the lyrics to “Flower of Scotland” helped Ms Sturgeon describe how the SNP would respond to a future Labour Budget which punished the poor.

Telling MSPs at Holyrood her party would vote down any Labour proposals which continued the Coalition’s austerity measures, she added: “That wouldn’t bring down the government, but it would send them away to think again.”

Asked by Ruth Davidson, the leader of the Scottish Conservatives, to name three things that made Ed Miliband the “right man” to lead the country, Ms Sturgeon offered only one, which caused the SNP benches to erupt in applause. “He’s not a Tory,” she said.

Throughout the election campaign Scottish Labour have been hoping that the so-called “Sturgeon surge” would subside, but the latest poll published suggested that the SNP’s support around the country is holding firm.

The Panelbase survey, conducted over the past week, put Ms Sturgeon’s party on 48 per cent, commanding a 22-point lead over Labour, whose support has fallen to 26 per cent. It equals the highest rating the SNP has had in a poll carried out by the company.

The party’s general election campaign director Angus Robertson welcomed the findings, but added: “We are taking absolutely nothing for granted, and will be speaking to people on the doorsteps and in communities across the country until the polls close to earn their trust.”