John Prescott has said a close "yes" vote in the North East regional assembly referendum tomorrow will be a "mandate for change".

With just 24 hours to go in the all-postal ballot the deputy prime minister made a last ditch attempt to swing undecided voters in favour of the elected administration.

And he sought to head off claims a narrow win will lack legitimacy by revealing participation is already higher than the equivalent poll in London in 1999.

Prescott announced that 37.6 per cent of the electorate has voted so far and turnout is expected to total around 40 per cent.

He said this would be a "respectable" result for the devolution scheme he has made his personal pet project.

Asked if with a turnout of less than 50 per cent would be "enough" Prescott pointed to the 34 per cent participation in the Capital's own referendum.

"This might be even 10 per cent more than that," he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

"In some areas it is over 40 per cent. That is a very respectable vote.

"Some votes for councils, for euro elections, have been considerably less than that. It would be a mandate and we would certainly accept it as a mandate for change."

The polls predict a close result with the public unconvinced by the case for grouping regional planning and economic development powers in a single elected body.

But Prescott rejected claims by opponents his plans would lead to more politicians and cost more money than the status quo.

"In fact it is £12 million less to the people in the North East," he said.

"They have said it will be more politicians - it's 500 politicians less."

Commons exchanges

Meanwhile in the Commons, Charles Kennedy called on Tony Blair to speak up for the "yes" campaign in the North East regional assembly referendum.

"Would he take this opportunity to urge voters there not to repeat the mistake that the Scots made back in 1979 by voting no to devolution, only to have to wait 20 years to actually see such an opportunity established?" the Liberal Democrat leader asked.

"Would he agree with 24 hours to go, it is most important that North East voters take this opportunity to go out and vote yes?"

Blair added that devolution had a track record of success in Britain.

"I think that devolution has been shown to work in Scotland and in Wales, I think London-wide government has been shown to work," the prime minister said.

"The fact that this North East assembly is going to be handling hundreds of millions of pounds of money, it will mean an actual reduction in the number of overall councils in the North East, I think it is right that we have devolution and decentralisation of power and I support it."

Kennedy said a lesson of the campaign was that "the more positive campaigning that is done in advance, the better it is when a decision is actually reached".

He argued that the principle should be applied to the European constitution referendum and that the government should get on the front foot in arguing for a "yes" vote.

"When is the prime minister going to get out himself, with cross-party support, and begin to make the case positively for that constitution?" Kennedy added.