Theresa May’s soft Brexit plan could put 25 Conservative seats at risk and hand Jeremy Corbyn keys to No10, experts warn
Research shows ex-Home Secretary Amber Rudd's constituency in Hastings could be under threat
THERESA May’s soft Brexit plan could cost the Tories 25 MPs and hand the keys to No 10 to Jeremy Corbyn, research shows.
A polling expert claims a mini-recovery by Ukip would see as many as two dozen pro-Leave ‘marginal’ seats held by the Conservatives switch to Labour if an election was held tomorrow.
These include ex-Home Secretary Amber Rudd’s constituency in Hastings as well as Southampton Itchen, Aberconwy in Wales and Middlesbrough South in the north-east.
Pro-EU Tory MP Anna Soubry’s seat in Broxtowe would also fall.
A report by Matthew Goodwin, professor of politics at the University of Kent, finds that Ukip are up 4.2 points in an average of all polls carried out since the PM unveiled her Chequers Brexit compromise in July.
The Tories are down by an average of 4.4 points.
The 25 Seats At Risk
- Southampton Itchen
- St Ives
- Preseli Pembrokeshire
- Thurrock
- Hastings and Rye
- Norwich North
- Calder Valley
- Aberconwy
- Stoke-on-Trent South
- Telford
- Northampton North
- Broxtowe
- Bolton West
- Middlesbrough South
- Mansfield
- Northampton South
- Pendle
- Morecambe and Lunesdale
- Cambourne and Redruth
- Copeland
- Milton Keynes South
- Harrow East
- Milton Keynes North
- Blackpool North and Cleveleys
- Watford
Mr Goodwin adds that it will be almost impossible for the Tories to make up the difference in pro-Remain seats – as many young millennials and large parts of the middle class feel “alienated”.
He says: “Prime Minister Theresa May’s Chequers Brexit has gone down like a lead balloon among Conservative voters. Since it was announced, the Conservative Party’s position in the polls has slumped four points while support for Ukip has more than doubled.
“This is clearing the road to Number 10 Downing Street for Jeremy Corbyn.”
He adds: “Put simply the Conservatives are between a very hard rock and a hard place.”
Theresa May enraged Eurosceptics by proposing to remain tied to EU rules for goods in her Brexit compromise plan.
Grassroots activists also fear further concessions will be made on immigration to seal a deal by October.
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A separate poll yesterday by pro-EU group Best for Britain claimed up to 100 of constituencies that voted Leave would now back Remain, including Boris Johnson’s seat of Uxbridge and 14 of 40 seats in Wales.
But support for Leave has edged higher in ardent Europhile Ken Clarke’s constituency of Rushcliffe as well as areas such as Edinburgh South-West, Finchley in north London and Somerton in the south-west.
It bases the findings on a nationwide 5-point swing to Remain.
By Matthew Goodwin, Professor of Politics at University of Kent
Prime Minister Theresa May’s ‘Chequers Brexit’ has gone down like a lead balloon among Conservative voters. Since it was announced, the Conservative Party’s position in the polls has slumped four points while support for Ukip has more than doubled. This is clearing the road to Number 10 Downing Street for Jeremy Corbyn.
In the twelve polls since Chequers, Corbyn’s Labour has been ahead or drawn even with the Conservative Party in all but one.
Labour’s average rating in the polls is now inching ahead the Conservative Party’s.
Make no mistake: unless things change Prime Minister Corbyn and Chancellor McDonnell is not just plausible but likely.
This means that were a general election held tomorrow then dozens of Conservative MPs would be at risk of losing their seats.
This is especially true in the most marginal constituencies where most people voted to leave the European Union in 2016 but where defections to Ukip or disillusioned Conservative Leavers simply not bothering to vote at all could easily push seats from the blue into the red column -seats like Southampton Itchen, Thurrock, Hastings and Rye, Stoke on Trent South and Mansfield and Bolton West.
The fundamental problem for Prime Minister May is that while her party has already lost ground among Remainers, young millennials and large parts of the middle-class, her soft position on Brexit is now alienating the very Leavers, pensioners and working-class voters who flocked to the Conservatives at the election last year.
This is the key point. Unlike the era of David Cameron, the era of Theresa May has seen the Conservative electorate become more blue-collar and more pro-Brexit - it is now stacked with voters who are expecting a meaningful deal on Brexit and, crucially, immigration.
Many of these voters had previously had a one-night stand with Ukip , voting for Nigel Farage’s party before returning to the Conservatives in 2017.
The risk now is that they abandon the Conservatives once again for another fling.
There are also other problems. In fact, I can see a perfect storm gathering above the Conservative Party. On one level, the party’s recent drop in the polls and even a semi-resurgent Ukip will make it even easier for Corbyn to continue hoovering up marginal but pro-Remain and often more affluent seats like Pudsey, Chipping Barnet, Hendon and Putney.
Meanwhile, elsewhere a Brexit deal that fails to rally Leavers will also make it that much harder for the Conservative Party to win back seats that were lost to Labour last year, like Kensington and Chelsea, Canterbury and Crewe and Nantwich.
And it will also put current Labour seats where lots of people voted for Brexit firmly beyond the grasp of the Conservatives, such as Dudley North, Barrow and Furness, Ashfield, Bishop Auckland, or Newcastle-under-Lyme.
Put simply, the Conservatives are stuck between a very hard rock and a hard place.
They should do all that they can to avoid another election for as long as possible.
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