But punters still backing Labour

BOOKIES last night shortened the odds on Labour winning the most seats at the General Election to 5/1 with punters staking thousands of pounds on Jeremy Corbyn becoming the next Prime Minister.

Theresa May remains favourite to stay on in Number 10 on 1/4. Fellow Tory Boris Johnson is considered her main rival at 25/1 – down from 100/1 last week.

Jessica Bridge, of Ladbrokes, said: “Neither leader performed particularly badly or well during Friday night’s debate. However, bets continue to flood in for Labour and while their odds have contracted to their shortest price yet, it still only represents a 17 per cent chance of pulling off a shock victory.

“Perhaps the most interesting market to watch over the past couple days is the odds of Boris Johnson being Prime Minister on July 1. The Foreign Secretary has become more visible in recent days and his odds have dropped from 100/1 to 25/1 – including one wager placed in a shop in Chelsea to the tune of £2,000. Punters seem to think even if the Tories do win Theresa May might not actually be in a better position than she was before and would step down.”

The Conservatives are 1/8 to win the most seats, 1/5 to win the most votes and 1/4 to win a majority. The odds of a hung Parliament are 9/2.

The odds on Mr Corbyn becoming the next Prime Minster are 7/2. After Mr Johnson, Home Secretary Amber Rudd is the next most likely candidate for the top job at 50/1.

Chancellor Philip Hammond is also on 50/1 while Brexit Secretary David Davis is an outsider at 200/1 – the same odds as Tim Farron.

At 1000/1, Ukip leader Paul Nuttall is considered less likely to become the next PM than David Cameron or Nick Clegg who are both 500/1.

Ladbrokes’ latest projections are 370 seats for the Tories, 199 for Labour and 11 for the Lib Dems.