LONDON (AP) — Comedian turned political activist Russell Brand has changed his mind and is no longer urging people not to vote in Thursday's general election.

Instead, Brand on Monday used his YouTube channel to urge his more than 1 million subscribers to back the Labour Party's Ed Miliband.

He said the Conservative Party led by Prime Minister David Cameron must be stopped.

The last-minute conversion may influence young voters who have read Brand's recent best-selling book "Revolution" and embraced his YouTube complaints about the power of big business and banks.

The long-haired comedian, who has starred in several feature films, has campaigned for the rights of London tenants and complained about heartless capitalism. He interviewed Miliband last week for his YouTube channel.

He said on his YouTube endorsement that Miliband wouldn't change things overnight but would listen to peoples' complaints.

Miliband's Labour Party also received the endorsement of best-selling celebrity TV cook Delia Smith, who enjoys a wide national following.

Campaigning with Miliband in the seaside city of Brighton, she said it was her "coming out day" as a Labour supporter because she feels the party will protect the National Health Service.

The vote is expected to be extremely close, with neither of the two main parties expected to command an absolute majority in Parliament because of the growth of smaller parties like the Scottish National Party and the UK Independence Party, known as UKIP.