William Hague has offered to shoulder the blame if the Tories suffer a crushing defeat, but refused to say whether he would resign should his party hit "meltdown".

"I am the leader of the party. I get the credit for its successes and the blame for its failures and I am very comfortable with that," he said.

Hague told the BBC's Breakfast with Frost: "I take my responsibility for whatever the outcome, but I've no plans to do anything other than continue doing the job I'm doing."