LONDON — Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party is heading for a thumping defeat in this month’s special election in Wakefield, according to a poll published in the Sunday Times, a result that would heighten speculation over the prime minister’s long-term future.
According to a J.L. Partners survey of 501 adults in Wakefield, the main opposition Labour Party has 48% support. Wakefield in Yorkshire is one of the historically Labour-voting constituencies in northern England — the so-called Red Wall — that helped deliver a huge majority for Johnson in the 2019 general election.
While the Tories have just 28%, much of their decline comes from voters turning to the Greens and the Liberal Democrats rather than to Keir Starmer’s Labour — a factor that could potentially prove less damaging to Johnson.
