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Only two Kent Conservative MPs would keep seats at General Election, says shock new poll

14:26, 15 December 2022

updated: 15:07, 15 December 2022

Only two Conservative MPs in Kent would hang on to their seats at a General Election, according to a shock new poll.

Just three years ago, many Tories in the county improved their share of the vote when Boris Johnson stormed to victory over Labour.

But this week a poll by Savanta indicates the true blue heartland could be turned almost completely red.

The only MPs who would survive in the predicted Labour landslide would be the Sevenoaks MP Laura Trott and Tonbridge and Malling's Tom Tugendhat.

Even Gordon Henderson, whose Sittingbourne and Sheppey seat is the safest in the south east, is set to be ousted.

Labour's Mike Tapp, who is hoping to overturn Tory Natalie Elphicke's 12,278 majority in Dover and Deal, says he is taking nothing for granted.

"I am always cautious with polls, but it does appear that voters here are moving away from the Conservatives who have continuously failed them," he told KentOnline.

Mike Tapp, Labour parliamentary candidate for Dover and Deal
Mike Tapp, Labour parliamentary candidate for Dover and Deal

"That said, we are not complacent."

Savanta predicts that Labour - led by Sir Keir Starmer - would see its share of seats in the Commons increase by 280 compared to the last election, giving them a majority of 314.

Currently the party's only Kent seat is Canterbury, won by Rosie Duffield in 2017.

The research found that at the next election 48% of voters intend to back Labour, 28% would support Rishi Sunak’s Tory party, 11% would vote Lib Dem, 4% Reform UK and 3% Green.

But Chris Hopkins, political research director at Savanta, says "we must express caution" over the findings.

Tory MP Laura Trott would keep her seat in Sevenoaks
Tory MP Laura Trott would keep her seat in Sevenoaks
Tom Tugendhat would hold on to his seat in Tonbridge and Malling
Tom Tugendhat would hold on to his seat in Tonbridge and Malling

He said: "Many seats going to Labour in this model, including a few that could be deemed ‘Red Wall’, still indicate a 40% or higher chance of remaining Conservative, and while that would have little impact on the overall election result, it does show that if Rishi Sunak can keep narrowing that Labour lead, point-by-point, the actual results come 2024 could look very different to this nowcast model.”

Working in conjunction with Electoral Calculus, Savanta interviewed 6,237 adults online in early December to reach their findings.

The data was compiled in a multi-regression and poststratification (MRP) model - the same method used to which correctly predict the 2017 hung parliament. It is said to more accurately forecast local results than standard polls.

Analysis by KentOnline political editor Paul Francis

All polls are fallible and at elections are often wildly inaccurate when it comes to predictions. They were proved wrong in 2019 when Boris Johnson confounded the pollsters when he delivered an 80-seat majority.

The front page of Kent Today on May 2, 1997, when Tony Blair stormed to victory
The front page of Kent Today on May 2, 1997, when Tony Blair stormed to victory

So we should treat this one cautiously. Even when polls predicted a landslide for Tony Blair in 1997, half of Kent’s seats were held by the Conservatives.

So we are not likely to see a similar drubbing whenever the next election is held. The notion that Labour will roll back the blue tide and sweep up constituencies that have remained blue for decades is fanciful.

The electoral make-up of Kent after the 2019 General Election
The electoral make-up of Kent after the 2019 General Election
How pollsters predict Kent will look after the next election, with just two Tory MPs holding on to their seats
How pollsters predict Kent will look after the next election, with just two Tory MPs holding on to their seats

The Conservatives cannot sit on its hands and expect voters to come round on polling day. Neither can Labour rest on its laurels and expect victory to be handed to it.

But a warning shot has been fired across the bows of both parties.

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