A NEW poll has given the lie to Boris Johnson’s claims his party are “only a handful of points behind in the polls”.
Tory support plummeted as chaos gripped No 10 this week, according to new research carried out on July 6 and 7 by YouGov.
Announcing his resignation on Thursday, the embattled Prime Minister – who remains in Downing Street – claimed his party were faring well in the polls in spite of “quite a few months of pretty relentless sledging and when the economic scene is so difficult domestically and internationally”.
But the data, published on Friday, shows Labour’s lead over the Conservatives had grown by 11 percentage points.
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The polling company – founded by new Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi – noted this was “more than two handfuls of points”.
Some 40% of those polled said they would back Keir Starmer’s party versus just 29% of those who said they would back the Conservatives.
Tory support was down four points with Labour up by the same amount.
And Johnson’s personal ratings took a dive with just 20% of those polled saying he would make the “best Prime Minister”, down seven percentage points.
Keir Starmer would be the best choice for No 10, according to 37% of those polled.
SNP support remained steady among those polled, accounting for 5% of those surveyed.
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Modelling released this week suggested every Tory MP in Scotland – including Scottish leader Douglas Ross and Secretary of State Alister Jack – was on course to lose their seat in the event of a snap general election.
The SNP would pick up 55 seats, according to pollster Mark McGeoghegan using the Britain Predicts model.
And Labour were also predicted using that model to regain Gordon Brown’s former seat of Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, which is currently held by Alba MP Neal Hanvey.
In the 2019 election which delivered a landslide victory to Johnson’s party, the Tories took 43.6% of the vote, versus just 32.1% for Labour.
If the polls bore out in a general election, it would see the Tories suffer an even more devastating defeat than seen under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.
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