Theresa May on course to win election majority as breakaway Independent Group damages Corbyn
The Prime Minister would win a 34-seat majority in a snap General Election, a new poll says
THERESA May is on course to win a Commons majority - partly thanks to the new Independent Group.
Two new polls give the Tories an eight-point lead over Labour in the event of a snap General Election.
The results suggest the breakaway group of centrist ex-Labour and Tory MPs is eating into Jeremy Corbyn's support.
A survey by Deltapoll puts the Conservatives on 39 per cent and Labour on 31 per cent, with the independents in third place on 11 per cent.
That would give Mrs May a 34-seat majority in Parliament - the largest winning margin in any election since 2005.
Deltapoll's Joe Twyman : "These results show there is at least some potential for The Independent Group to have an impact on British politics and, so far at least, that impact appears to hurt Labour more than the Conservatives."
Another poll from Opinium suggested the Tories would get 40 per cent, Labour 32 per cent and TIG 6 per cent.
Today Chuka Umunna, tipped to become leader when the Independent Group becomes a political party, insisted the 11 MPs could hold the balance of power in the Commons.
He told Sky News: "In a hung Parliament, a relatively small number of MPs can make a difference."
Corbyn ally Barry Gardiner hit out at Mr Umunna, saying: "In effect the reason he wanted to leave the Labour party is that he knew he'd never be leader of the Labour party."
Momentum chief Jon Lansman today admitted TIG could pose a threat to Labour.
He : "The threat as it is, is that whilst it won’t succeed itself which is absolutely guaranteed in my view, it may damage us."
Momentum is targeting the seats of Labour defectors in a bid to force them to trigger by-elections.
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