Conservatives slash election projections as Corbyn surge in polls continues

Tory MPs revise their ‘best case’ election scenario down from winning a majority of 200 MPs to just 80

Theresa May’s personal approval ratings have also fallen from a significant 56-point lead over the Labour leader in April to 22 points (Reuters)

The Conservative Party has reportedly revised down its internal projections for the general election after a clutch of new polls have shown their lead over the Labour Party is narrowing.

Estimations for the best-case scenario have been revised by the Tories from a majority of 200 down to 80.

The projection for the worst-case scenario is a hung parliament, in which no party is able to get a majority, an idea that was initially inconceivable when Theresa May first called the election.

The figures have resulted in a mood of annoyance verging on anger at Conservative Campaign Headquarters at Ms May, who has been criticised for her performance during the election campaign, The Spectator reported.

One MP was open with his fears and highlighted the U-turn on the care-costs cap as an example of a major error.

“Corbyn can’t win this but we could lose it and we’ve been giving it a bloody good go. There might have to be a couple of people taken out and shot,” the unnamed MP told The Times.

A series of polls have shown Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party closing the gap on the Prime Minister, who had a lead of 25 points when the election was called.

Labour is now six points behind in a poll conducted by ORB for The Sunday Telegraph and has slashed the lead in half compared with the previous week.

In the poll, Ms May’s Conservative Party are on 44 per cent and Mr Corbyn’s Labour Party on 38 per cent.

The 38 per cent score equals Labour’s best rating since Mr Corbyn became leader and would see him comfortably outpoll Ed Miliband and Gordon Brown’s election results if repeated on 8 June.

It is not the only poll to show the Tory lead shrinking. An exclusive poll conducted by ComRes for The Independent, puts the Conservatives 12 points ahead, a reduction in the lead by six points from the week before.

In The Sunday Times, a YouGov poll also shows a much smaller Tory lead. The Conservatives are seven points ahead on 43 per cent with the Labour Party trailing on 36 per cent.

An Opinium poll for The Observer also came to the same conclusion. Over the past week, Ms May’s lead has gone down from 13 points to 10. The Tories are one point lower in the poll at 45 per cent and Labour are up two on 35 per cent.

The poll also shows that more than a third of voters say their opinion of the Prime Minister is more negative since the election was called.

Ms May’s decision to call a general election and focus the debate on her leadership may be backfiring, as 39 per cent of respondents said their view of Mr Corbyn had improved during the campaign period.

Net approval ratings had Ms May with a massive 56 point lead in April, this has now be slashed to 22 points and appears to be continually falling.