Tories may face catastrophic defeat in Wakefield
byelection – poll
Survey puts Labour 20 points ahead in the constituency
amid reports Boris Johnson could face no confidence vote
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Nadeem
Badshah
Sat 4 Jun
2022 17.46 EDT
The
Conservatives are heading for a potentially catastrophic defeat in the
Wakefield byelection amid reports Boris Johnson could face a vote on his future
next week, according to a new poll.
A survey by
JL Partners and reported in the Sunday Times gives Labour a 20-point lead over
the Tories in the Yorkshire constituency.
The poll
puts Labour on 48% and the Tories on 28%, down by 19 points.
The prime
minister secured his majority of about 80 seats at the 2019 general election
via the so-called Red Wall traditionally Labour-supporting areas in the north
of England, the Midlands and Wales which voted Tory.
Before the
2019 result, Wakefield had consistently voted for a Labour candidate since the
1930s.
Wakefield
is scheduled to go to the polls on 23 June to elect a new MP after former Tory
incumbent Imran Ahmad Khan was found guilty in April of sexually assaulting a
boy.
James
Johnson, co-founder of JL Partners and a former Downing Street pollster during
Theresa May’s tenure, said the Conservatives are “behind Labour in every age
group apart from the over-65s”, with polling day less than three weeks away.
The polling
expert said the primary reason swing voters in Wakefield chose Sir Keir
Starmer’s party as their preference was that “Boris Johnson tried to cover up
partygate, and lied to the public”.
The second
most popular reason was because they viewed Johnson as being out of touch with
the working class.
The result
could increase the pressure on the prime minister, who faces a second test in
the Tiverton and Honiton byelection on the same day as Wakefield.
Almost 30
Tory MPs have publicly called for Johnson to resign over his conduct over the
social gatherings during lockdown and the alcohol culture at Downing Street.
Under
Conservative party rules, if 54 letters of no confidence in his premiership are
submitted to Sir Graham Brady, the chair of the 1922 Committee of backbench
Tories, then a leadership vote will be held.
The Sunday
Times said it had been told by one rebel they had privately tallied that 67
letters had gone in during the secret process which would mean the threshold
has been reached.
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According
to the newspaper, a vote on the future of Johnson’s premiership could take
place as soon as Wednesday.
The rebels
would need 180 voters to remove the Tory leader from power, otherwise affording
him, by the current rules, a year’s stay of execution before another bid to
replace him can be held.
Meanwhile,
Johnson faced further embarrassment on Saturday evening when comedian Lee Mack
made a joke about partygate during the Platinum Party at the Palace concert
with the prime minister sitting in the royal box.
Mack said:
“Finally we can say the words ‘party’ and ‘gate’ and it’s a positive” which
prompted cheers and laughs from the audience.
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