Labour could win the general election with majority of almost TWO HUNDRED seats as new mega-polls reveal the scale of the Tory crisis facing Rishi Sunak ahead of July 4
Labour is on course to win the general election with a majority of almost 200 seats in an astonishing Tory wipeout.
Two major polls of thousands of voters today lay out in stark numbers the major crisis facing Rishi Sunak's Conservative Party.
An MRP poll by YouGov tonight suggests Labour could win 422 seats to the Tories' 140, giving Sir Keir Starmer a majority of 194.
The Tories would lose 232 seats, taking them to fewer than the previous lowest number of Conservative seats in recent history: 165 in 1997, according to the poll for Sky News.
The MRP poll predicts Labour would win the biggest majority since Stanley Baldwin won a majority of 208 in 1924.
A second MNRP by More in Common is less bad for the Conservatives but still gives Labour a majority of more than 100.
Both are larger than the majority achieved by Boris Johnson at the 2019 election in an astonishing turnaround in the space of five years.
The polls suggest that a slew of big Tory hitters would lose their seats. They include Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, touted future leadership candidate Penny Mordaunt, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk and former business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg.
They book-ended a terrible afternoon for Mr Sunak that also saw Nigel Farage come out of semi-retirement to lead Reform UK and stand as a candidate in Clacton.
It came as the Prime Minister reeled from the news that Nigel Farage has taken over the reins at Reform and will run in Clacton on July 4.
Mr Farage said he was back 'for the next five years' - making clear he wants to dismantle the Tories 'when they are in Opposition' after the election.
The polls suggest that a slew of big Tory hitters would lose their seats. They include touted future leadership candidate Penny Mordaunt and Defence Secretary Grant Shapps
Justice Secretary Alex Chalk and former business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg are also under threat
The Brexit champion announced the U-turn at a press conference alongside previous leader Richard Tice.
As well as taking the helm of the party, he dropped the bombshell saying that he will run for Parliament in Clacton.
Mr Farage said he was back 'for the next five years' - making clear he wants to dismantle the Tories 'when they are in Opposition' after the election.
He said 'not on your nelly' would he do an electoral deal with the Conservatives, predicting that Reform would win more votes.
It is a huge headache for Mr Sunak as he tries to claw back ground on Labour. A Redfield & Wilton Strategies poll this evening put the Tories on 20 per cent backing, only six points ahead of Reform and a massive 26 points behind Keir Starmer's party.
No Conservative candidate is set to get 50 per cent of the vote in their constituency, YouGov said, adding that Labour was set to make gains across all areas of England.
A previous YouGov MRP poll published in early April showed Labour winning 403 seats nationwide if a general election was held then. A party would need to win more than 320 seats to secure a majority in parliament.
More in Common's MRP survey of more than 15,000 people suggests that the Conservatives will win just 180 seats, less than half the number Boris Johnson won in 2019.
Labour is predicted to win 382 seats, almost doubling the total achieved by Jeremy Corbyn.
Mr Farage acknowledged that it would be 'very difficult' to win from scratch in a constituency.
But he said since the snap election was called he had been talking to people on the streets and observed that 'there is a rejection of the political class going on in this country in a way that has not been seen in modern times'.
'I rationally thought this was too difficult. I've changed my mind because I can't let down millions of people,' he said.
'Nothing in this country works... we will only recover our position with boldness,' he said. 'I've done it before, I'll do it again: I will surprise everybody.'
Explaining his change of heart, Mr Farage said: 'The other thing that really shook me in a way last week were the number of people coming up to me in the street saying 'Nigel, why aren't you standing?''
Frenzied speculation about Mr Farage's intentions was sparked this morning when he posted on social media about an 'emergency general election announcement'.
There were immediately rumours that Clacton or East Thanet had attracted his eye.
Reform has already selected a candidate in Clacton, but they will stand aside.
Mr Farage could find his previous views on Essex come back to haunt him, after he told the Times earlier this year: 'Do I want to spend every Friday for the next five years in Clacton?'
