General Election 2015: Delia Smith issues emotional plea for people to vote Labour

It's been a bumper weekend for Miliband's party, with Russell Brand, Steve Coogan and the nation's favourite home economics teacher joining

(bbc)

Plenty of new people have jumped on the Labour campaign bandwagon the weekend before the General Election - including comedians-turned-activists Steve Coogan and Russell Brand.

And now, TV chef Delia Smith has declared her support for Ed Miliband's party.

This comes at a good time for the party, after it was ridiculed for unveiling a stone engraved with Labour's eight election pledges.

Writing in the party's email-out, Smith said that she was supporting the party because she believed they were most committed to the NHS.

She told the story of how her uncle died aged 18 months - years before Smith was born - because the family could not afford medical treatment.

Smith says: "In short, what I believe profoundly, is the party that campaigned for [the NHS] and created it will be the best one to nurture and sustain it for the future."

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However, the Conservative party has said it's the only party to have pledged the £8billion extra needed for the NHS during their next term, if elected.

Smith started her career as a washer-up in a small restaurant in Paddington aged 21, before eventually being taught how to cook.

She went on to become the best-known TV cook in the UK, with her first programme airing in 1973. Smith was notorious for what became known as the "Delia Effect", with ingredients featured in her programmes selling out across the country. Whether she'll have the same impact on votes for Labour remains to be seen.

She has since retired from being a television personality and is a passionate supporter of Norwich City FC.

Read Smith's full letter below:

Dear fellow voter,

The reason I have always voted Labour is initially because my parents did. My mother aged five witnessed the tragic death of her 18-month-old brother because the family could not afford to send for a doctor to treat his pneumonia. Wind on the years to when I was about 7 and I remember we had a poster with a table light behind it in our front window saying 'Vote Labour for a National Health Service' in the year they were campaigning for it.

That was all of 67 years ago, and now what they pioneered and worked so hard for, which became the envy of the world, is in grave danger of being compromised or at worst ceasing to exist, as we know it.

In short, what I believe profoundly, is the party that campaigned for it and created it will be the best one to nurture and sustain it for the future.

We are all fully aware of the strain it's under, and we each have a duty to do all we can to preserve this most precious asset, that makes such a vital contribution to human well-being in the U.K. We cannot afford to allow it to fall into the wrong hands.

Think back to that glorious opening ceremony at the Olympic stadium that was beamed around the world, and how we celebrated the NHS as one of our greatest achievements. Then think about how very close this election is and use first your heart and then your vote and play a part in helping Labour to work for and at all costs keep our NHS.

With warmest wishes,

Delia