poll Apocalyptic suggests just 98 Tories would survive election...with even Sunak and Hunt at risk

CHANGING Prime Minister makes no sense, a former Tory leader insisted yesterday after dire polling predicted a general election wipeout.

- Sam Lister

Sir Iain Duncan Smith spoke out after a seat-by-seat breakdown revealed even PM Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's electoral futures are on the line.

The shock poll suggested a Tory horror show at the ballot box with the Conservatives winning just 98 seats in England.

Sir Iain acknowledged the public was angry with the Government after a cost-of-living squeeze fuelled by Covid and high migration levels.

But he urged Conservatives to stop turning in on themselves and focus on putting more money in people's pockets.

A 15,000-person poll by Survation between March 8 and 22 was used to create the breakdown of constituencies, which indicated the Conservatives be annihilated in would Scotland and Wales.

The survey put Labour on 45% with a 19-point lead over the Tories on 26%, suggesting Sir Keir Starmer's party could be on course for a landslide with 468 seats.

Based on the 2019 general election results, Mr Sunak's new Richmond and Northallerton seat should be solidly Conservative.

But the poll reveals he has just a 2.4% lead over Labour.

Meanwhile, Mr Hunt has a wafer-thin 1% margin over the Liberal Democrats in his new Godalming and Ash seat. The study, carried out for the anti-Brexit Best for Britain campaign group, also suggested several Cabinet ministers, including potential leadership contenders, could be ousted as the Tories face their worst-ever result.