No party in history has come back from such dismal ratings on leadership to win

AND we’re off! The third national Election campaign in five years has finally begun and the Conservatives look to be in a strong position in the polls.

But there is a long way to go and the battle that Boris Johnson faces to stay in power has really only just begun.

The polls have been moving in the Conservatives’ favour since Mr Johnson became Prime Minister, and Deltapoll’s latest results in today’s Mail on Sunday have the Conservatives on 40 per cent, slightly down on their share of the vote in the 2017 Election, but well ahead of Labour on 28 per cent.

Behind t he headline f i gures the situation continues to look good for the Conservatives generally, and Boris Johnson in particular, based on the underlying data. Nearly half (48 per cent) of people say the Prime Minister is doing well in his job compared to only a quarter (25 per cent) who say the same for Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Similarly, when given the choice between the two main parties, the Conservatives are seen as the best party, by some distance, to deal with the issue of Brexit and to manage the economy.

It has never been the case in the history of British politics that a party has come from behind on both leadership and economic management ratings to win the most seats at a General Election, so the data is on Mr Johnson’s side.

With six weeks to go, however, things could all change. We are only at the very start of the campaign and polls are not a prediction, only ever a snapshot of public opinion at that specific moment – and they are all subject to a margin of error.

The 2017 General Election demonstrated just what a potential difference the campaign can make to the end result.

The Conservatives enjoyed a large lead in the polls over Labour at the start of that campaign, but while Mr Corbyn exceeded expectations and the Labour Party’s position improved, Theresa May was to be found wanting.

This time around, the situation is different. While both leadership candidates were relatively unknown in 2017, Mr Corbyn has now been in the job for more than four years and Mr Johnson has been among the best-known politicians in Britain for much longer, albeit not as Prime Minister.

Will Mr Corbyn be able to turn around Labour’s fortunes in 2019 the way he did two years ago?

Will the Conservatives make the same sort of mistakes as previously? Only time will tell.

Throughout the campaign, Deltapoll and The Mail on Sunday will be tracking all the key results to see the direction in which things are moving and identify the important trends – separating the turning points from the talking points.