POLL POSITION

AS VOTING STARTS, FINAL EVE-OF-VOTE POLL SUGGESTS SUPPORT HOLDING UP FOR LABOUR IN WALES WHILE TORIES CLING TO UK LEAD

LABOUR could be on course for its best night in Wales for 16 years by winning 46% of the nation’s vote share, an opinion poll suggested yesterday.

The latest findings of the Welsh Political Barometer poll predict that Jeremy Corbyn’s party could reclaim the two seats it lost to the Conservatives in 2015.

The forecast comes despite early predictions of an “electoral earthquake” that could have seen the Labour Party lose nearly half of its seats in the nation.

Across the UK, meanwhile, polls have shown a Tory doubledigit lead over Labour narrowing since the election was first called.

A Press Association “poll of polls” taking in 10 results from the past week – not including the YouGov seat-by-seat model – put the Conservatives on 44%, seven points clear of Labour on 37%, with the Liberal Democrats on 8%, Ukip on 4% and the Greens on 2%.

The latest data came as the leaders of Britain’s biggest parties made their final pitch to voters.

Daybreak saw Prime Minister Theresa May campaigning for votes in London’s Smithfield meat market. She claimed that a successful Brexit negotiation would provide opportunities for “more jobs, more homes, better roads and railways, and world-class digital connectivity wherever you live”.

Jeremy Corbyn told a rally of cheering supporters in Glasgow that he was hopeful of a “very historic” Labour majority tomorrow.

He said: “This campaign is a choice, and there has never been a clearer choice.

“The choice is years of a Tory underfunding of another five government, services all across the UK, including here in Scotland, or a Labour government that invests for all, all across Britain.”

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said a Tory landslide could only be prevented if people voted tactically to minimise Theresa May’s majority.

And Leanne Wood, the leader of Plaid Cymru, labelled Theresa May’s election campaign a “disaster” and said it has put the Conservatives in a “precarious position”.

During a speech to party activists and supporters at the Ystradfechan Recreational Grounds in Treorchy, she said: “The way that this election had played out has been unprecedented.

“Theresa May has carried out what may be the most disastrous Conservative campaign in living memory, and while she still may win the election in England it is clear that there has been a hostile reaction to her policies.”

The figures in yesterday’s Wales Barometer poll show a dramatic upturn in support for the Labour Party, which trailed 10 points behind the Conservatives in Wales six weeks ago.

Meanwhile, the YouGov poll for Cardiff University’s Wales Governance Centre and ITV Cymru Wales indicates the Conservatives are also set to have a good night in Wales, gaining 34% of the vote share, which would be their highest in Wales for more than a century – but that it may not help them in terms of seats.

Professor Roger Scully, from the University of Cardiff, said “Labour have fought back strongly.

“If these figures are born out in