The Tories could lose 800 seats and Labour gain 800 in next month’s local elections in England and Wales, shock polling has claimed.
The study by two firms suggested Labour would be the largest party in Parliament, 15 short of an overall majority, if the results were replicated at a general election.
However, other pollsters poured scorn on the findings, first published by the Telegraph, predicting they would overstate the scale of any Labour gains this May. A Labour MP branded them Tory "expectation management".
