Only a third of voters who backed the Conservatives in 2019 will vote for the party again at the next general election, according to a new poll.
On Thursday, YouGov and WPI Strategy revealed that out of 4,000 voters who supported the Tories, just 37% would support them again if an election were held tomorrow.
The poll also found 9% of respondents would switch to Labour, 3% to the Liberal Democrats and 1% to the Green Party.
But Tory HQ will be most concerned about the 19% of poll participants who said they would switch to Reform UK, seemingly confirming fears about Nigel Farage’s former party splitting the Conservative vote.
But, there was a glimmer of hope for Downing Street in the poll, as 22% of the respondents said they were still undecided.
The survey has been released just as voters head to the ballot box in both Wellingborough and Kingswood for by-elections sparked by the dramatic departure of two Conservative MPs in recent months.
The by-election results, to be announced early on Friday morning, are expected to be another very tense moment for Rishi Sunak’s time in office.
The Conservatives are allegedly preparing to lose both seats, and prime minister did not visit either constituency in the last week of campaigning.
Sunak’s party has been trailing far behind Labour in the opinion polls for some time now – Keir Starmer’s party was pressing ahead with a 20-point lead at the end of January.
And almost two-thirds of Tory activists think Labour will will the next general election, according to a survey from ConservativeHome.
But, a week of turmoil for Labour – where it watered down a spending pledge on green energy projects and struggled with a row over controversial comments made by two of the party’s then by-election candidates – saw them slump back to a 12-point lead this week.