Senior Tories signal defeat as party pleads to voters not to give Labour a 'huge majority'

Yesterday Jeremy Hunt became the latest senior minister to say that Labour are set to win a majority at the General Election, following polls suggesting that his party could be left with fewer than 100 seats.

“It’s going to be very tough. I don’t think any of us would pretend that is the most likely outcome.

“We can certainly do a lot better than the polls are suggesting and we’re working very hard to do so”.

Other top Tories including Defence Secretary Grant Shapps who suggested on Monday that a Conservative victory was unlikely, while Wales Secretary David TC Davies acknowledged on Wednesday that the polls were pointing to a “large Labour majority”.

However, Michael Gove, the Levelling Up Secretary who is standing down at this election, insisted the election had not entered “Fergie time”.

“Sometimes it looks as though the odds are against you, but you keep on fighting,” he said.

The Conservative campaign is now reportedly diverting resources away from seats it was aiming to hold in next month’s vote, focusing instead on constituencies with large majorities which could now be under threat.

Yesterday Bloomberg reported that these seats also included the Rishi Sunak’s own seat of Richmond and Northallerton, amid new polling that suggested he could be unseated by Labour.

The Tory election campaign has now adopted attacks on Labour by raising questions about what it would do with an “absolutely huge” majority.

Senior party figures warned that this could see Sir Keir Starmer raise taxes, and somehow rig the voting system by giving votes to migrants and prisoners, as well as 16-year-olds.

However, attempts to set the narrative by the Tory campaign yesterday were thrown into fresh turmoil over allegations of betting on the date of the General Election.

With just two weeks until polling day, the Conservatives’ director of campaigning Tony Lee took a leave of absence amid reports both he and his would-be MP wife Laura Saunders are being investigated by the Gambling Commission.

Ms Saunders and Mr Lee are the latest people with links to the Tory party or No 10 caught up in allegations about betting on the date of the July 4 contest.

News of the investigation into Bristol North West candidate Ms Saunders emerged after the arrest of one of the Prime Minister’s police protection officers and the previous revelation of a Gambling Commission investigation into his parliamentary aide Craig Williams over betting allegations.

A Conservative spokesman said: “We have been contacted by the Gambling Commission about a small number of individuals.

“As the Gambling Commission is an independent body, it wouldn’t be proper to comment further, until any process is concluded.”