AN army of secret Tory voters could make a dent in a Labour super-majority when they head to the polls, The Sun’s experts say.
Many number-crunchers are predicting wipeout for the Tories on July 4 – with Sir Keir Starmer’s party set to win a huge majority.
The Sun’s Political Editor Harry Cole said Rishi Sunak’s campaign has been ‘dire’Darren Fletcher
But pollster Scarlett Maguire said there is ‘genuine uncertainty’ among voters
Our Political Editor Harry Cole said Rishi Sunak’s campaign has been so “dire” it is now “cringe” to say you vote Conservative.
But he said that some people may still plump for the Tories in the secrecy of the ballot box.
It comes as JL Partners director Scarlett Maguire revealed the polling firm has forecast a smaller majority for Sir Keir than many expect.
Speaking on today’s episode of Never Mind the Ballots, he said fears of a Labour “super-majority” may stop one actually happening.
Harry said: “Some people, and some of them are related to me, walked into that room thinking they had made up their minds.
“But they actually thought Rishi did better than they were expecting him to do.
“Has this election campaign has been so dire for Rishi Sunak that actually it’s a bit cringe to say you’re going to vote Tory?
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“But in the privacy of the ballot box, how much scope is there for people to actually think about all that stuff?
“About super-majorities, about trust. The shy Tories, the ’92 thing – is it real? Could it come back?
“I don’t think they’re going to win – but could it not be the wipeout we think?”
Pollster Scarlett said: “I think it’s not so much even about the shy Conservatives.
“They are people actively sort of lying to pollsters and saying I’m not going to vote for them but then secretly doing that anyway.
“I think it’s more that there’s a genuine uncertainty and volatility amongst some voters who have decided.
“There are also some voters who are currently telling us they don’t know.
“I really do think we don’t actually quite know how they’ll vote – it does seem like the super-majority line could work.
“Even 1 in 4 Labour voters say they don’t want a Labour super-majority.
“We know it appeals to Reform voters and to 2019 Conservative voters.
“It’s whether that’s enough on the day – and I think we just actually won’t quite know.
“We’ll have a better sense in the last few days of the campaign, but I don’t think we can quite know that yet.”
It comes after Harry grilled PM Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer live at The Sun’s London HQ yesterday.
Rishi warned Brits will suffer under a Labour government while taking questions from Sun readers.
He said Keir Starmer won’t tell you what he’ll do in power – because he knows you won’t like it.
Meanwhile, Sir Keir insisted he will meet with JK Rowling to thrash out trans and gender rights – saying he “respects her views”.
You can watch the clash at The Sun’s London HQ in full on our YouTube channel.
Rishi: Keir won’t tell you what he’ll do in power because he knows you won’t like it
KEIR Starmer won’t tell you what he’ll do in power because he knows you won’t like it, Rishi Sunak blasted last night.
The PM warned Brits will suffer under a Labour government while taking questions from Sun readers and our Political Editor Harry Cole.
Asked to defend his record, Rishi said: “I believe in what I’m saying, I believe in tax cuts.
“I’m very proud of what we’ve done but I am focused on the future and this election.
“We can talk about the past but the choice is – who do you want to run your country?
“Who is placed to deliver security? No-one can say what Labour will do.
“If a politician doesn’t tell you what they’ll do, it’s probably because you won’t like it.
“We’ve heard from the audience about the challenges of bills – that’s why I’m fighting hard.”