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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Josh Salisbury

General Election 2024 LIVE: Devastating YouGov poll predicts Tories to fall to lowest MP tally in party's history

A devastating new poll predicts the Tories may return just 108 MPs on election night, handing Keir Starmer a huge victory and a majority of more than 200 MPs.

The latest poll by YouGov, of some 35,000 voters, sees Labour gaining 223 seats whereas the Tories would lose 257. It also predicts the Lib Dems to gain some 56 to a total of 67.

Jeremy Hunt, Penny Mordaunt and Alex Chalk could all lose their seats.

Earlier on Wednesday Rishi Sunak dismissed billionaires abandoning the Tories.

Appearing on an LBC phone-in on Wednesday morning, he was asked about Phones4U founder John Caudwell and Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe throwing their weight behind Sir Keir Starmer's party.

The Prime Minister said: "They're two of Britain's richest men. They can probably afford Labour's tax rises."

It comes as new inflation figures handed Mr Sunak a pre-election boost, with the headline rate falling to 2% in May - down from 2.3% in April.

The Prime Minister has faced a turbulent election campaign so far, with the entrance of Nigel Farage as Reform Party leader in the election race widely feared within the Conservatives to be eating away at their vote share.

On Tuesday, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer refused to directly rule out council tax increases under a Labour government in a similar LBC phone-in.

The Labour leader said he has no plans to put more financial pressure on working people and vowed that income tax, national insurance and VAT would not rise if he becomes Prime Minister next month.

But pressed about a raid on council taxes, he declined to promise the same.

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