Labour takes 11-point poll lead over Tories as Partygate fallout puts pressure on PM

Growing number of Conservatives worried about defeat at next general election

Labour has marched into an 11-point lead over the Conservatives in the latest poll, as Boris Johnson comes under increasing pressure over the Partygate scandal.

A steady flow of Tory MPs have called for the prime minister to go in the wake of the Sue Gray report – with a growing number worried that the party is heading for defeat at the next general election.

The latest Savanta ComRes survey puts Sir Keir Starmer’s party on 42 per cent – up two points from the firm’s last poll, and Mr Johnson’s party down three on 31 per cent.

It marks the biggest Labour lead in voting intention seen by the company since the end of January, when the scandal over lockdown parties reached fever pitch.

It comes as John Stevenson, MP for Carlisle, became the latest Tory to call on Mr Johnson to go over the Partygate “revelations” – telling colleagues to “facilitate a vote of confidence” in his leadership.

Under party rules Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, must call a vote of confidence if 54 Tory MPs submit a letter calling for one.

Close to 30 Tory MPs have publicly called on the PM to stand down. But 40 MPs have openly questioned his future, although not all of them have said whether they have written to Sir Graham.

Former Tory leader William Hague said Mr Johnson was now “in real trouble” and that Tory MPs are “moving towards having a ballot” on his leadership – predicting the contest could come as early as next week.

Allies of the PM had been hopeful he had escaped unscathed following a relatively muted initial response to Ms Gray’s report last week – but Lord Hague said it is proving to be “one of those sort of slow-fuse explosions in politics”.

Former cabinet minister Dame Andrea Leadsom also spoke out against Mr Johnson for his “unacceptable failings of leadership” over lockdown parties.

In a letter to her constituents, Dame Andrea said the “extent and severity” of the rule-breaking in No 10 meant it was “extremely unlikely” the senior leadership did not know what was going on.

“The conclusion I have drawn from the Sue Gray report is that there have been unacceptable failings of leadership that cannot be tolerated and are the responsibility of the prime minister,” said the ex-minister, who backed Mr Johnson for the leadership in 2019.

Despite the rebuke, she stopped short of directly calling on Mr Johnson to resign, and did not say whether she had submitted a letter calling for a no-confidence vote.

Chris Hopkins, political research director at Savanta ComRes, said “the fact that some voting intention movement has been shown in the wake of the Sue Gray report is certainly notable”.

He added: “However, with the latest raft of measures announced by the chancellor to deal with the rising cost of living, it’s likely that, if the Conservative party can claw back some perception of economic competence, they can turn this polling deficit around, despite a potential vote of confidence on the horizon for the prime minister.”

The Savanta ComRes poll of 2,177 UK adults was carried out online over the weekend 27-29 May.