Boris surges ahead as he tightens grip on blue collar voters
BORIS JOHNSON has extended his lead over Jeremy Corbyn as he strengthens the Tories’ grip on working-class voters.
This week’s Deltapoll survey for The Mail on Sunday gives the Conservatives a 15-point lead, up from 12 points last week, with the governing party on 45 per cent and Labour on 30.
Tory strategists will be encouraged by the slump i n Liberal Democrat support – down five to 11 per cent – given the attempts by its leader Jo Swinson to form a pro- Remain tactical voting pact against the Conservatives.
Mr Johnson will need to pick up a string of Labour- held seats in northern working- class areas if he is to return to Downing Street with a healthy majority. The poll suggests that his clear pro-Brexit policy – unlike Mr Corbyn’s contortions on the issue – are winning him support in Leave-backing areas.
While the Conservatives hold a 13-point lead in the highest ABC1 social brackets, that stretches to 17 points among C2DE bluecollar workers.
The complexity of the planned voting patterns in this Election leaves pollsters wary about making seat projections, but a uniform national swing in line with these figures could give Mr Johnson a majority of 108.
A largely gaffe-free week on the campaign train for the Prime Minister has helped his net approval score move back into positive territory, at plus 4 – a thumping 47 points higher than Mr Corbyn.
If the Labour leader puts in an unexpectedly strong performance during t he t elevised Election debates – starting with his headto-head showdown with Mr Johnson on ITV on Tuesday night – it could give him a boost.
However, most voters do not expect this: 29 per cent think Mr Johnson will do best, compared with 16 per cent who have confidence in Mr Corbyn.
Today’s announcements by the Tories on their post-Brexit immigration plans will also reinforce the party’s reputation for tough border controls. Asked if migration to the UK would rise or fall under a new Conservative government, 40 per cent said it would fall, while just 13 per cent said it would rise.
The f i gures are ef f ect i vel y reversed when applied to a new Labour government, with 40 per cent predicting a rise and 15 per cent a fall.
The revolt by Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party candidates – many of whom pulled out of contests rather than risk splitting the Tory vote in key marginals – has left his party marooned on six per cent.
The poll suggests most voters think Mr Farage’s political career is nearing its end: a total of 45 per cent say his most successful days are behind him, and just 11 per cent think they lie ahead of him.
The Tories have been the main beneficiary of the fall in the Lib Dem vote. The same pattern was observed in 2017 when the Tories and Labour gained as the weeks went on and voters moved towards the two main parties.
Most voters say Farage’s career is nearing the end
Deltapoll interviewed 1,526 British adults online between November 14 and 16. Data has been weighted to be representative of the adult population as a whole.