Labour forecast to win landslide of over 400 seats, with YouGov poll predicting Tory wipeout at election
Labour could be swept into power with a landslide of more than 400 seats at the next general election, according to the latest YouGov mega poll.
The survey of 18,000 people predicts Sir Keir Starmer’s party will win a parliamentary majority of 154 – almost double what the Conservatives achieved with Boris Johnson in 2019.
The poll forecasts Labour will win 403 seats, a gain of 201, while the Tories will crash to just 155 seats – a loss of 210.
Follow live: The big Tory names forecast to lose their seats
If correct, the result would be a worse defeat for the Conservatives than under Sir John Major in 1997, when the rise of Sir Tony Blair’s New Labour left them with just 165 MPs.
Key Conservatives projected to lose their seats include Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, cabinet ministers Grant Shapps and Penny Mordaunt and former party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith.
A loss for Ms Mordaunt would be particularly embarrassing as she has been already a two-time contender for the party leadership, and has been touted as a potential successor to Rishi Sunak.
Other cabinet ministers set to lose their seats include Transport Secretary Mark Harper, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk, Science Secretary Michelle Donelan and Wales Secretary David TC Davies.
There is also bad news for the SNP, which is forecast to lose 29 seats – with most of them going to Labour.
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‘We’re ready – just call an election’
That would mean Labour once again becoming the largest party in Scotland, having been virtually wiped out north of the border in 2015.
The Liberal Democrats, who are targeting Conservative heartlands in the so-called “Blue Wall”, are forecast to gain 38 seats.
The poll of 18,761 adults was conducted by YouGov between 7 and 27 March, and it used a multilevel regression and post-stratification (MRP) process to model constituency-level results.
It is generally considered one of the most accurate forms of polling due to the number of interviews conducted, which enables pollsters to examine voting intentions in very small geographical areas.
It is the latest in a series of disastrous polls for the Conservative Party ahead of a general election expected in the second half of this year.
UK
‘I was told this was a wonder drug but not warned about the deathly consequences’: 100 faces of infected blood scandal
“Losing Gary, my soul mate, was beyond painful,” says Kathryn Croucher, whose husband died aged 42 in 2010.
“Every day was a struggle dealing with the knowledge he was HIV and Hepatitis C positive.”
“Mum always said she was given a death sentence,” recalls Ronan Fitzgerald. His mother, Jane, died aged 54 after being infected with Hepatitis C when she was 16. “It was a ticking time bomb.”
Updates:
Scandal was ‘not an accident’
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The faces of the infected blood scandal.
More than 30,000 Britons were infected with HIV and Hepatitis C after being given contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 1980s.
Around 3,000 people have died as a result of the scandal, while many more still live under the shadow of health problems, debilitating treatments and stigma. Now, the findings of a public inquiry, first announced in 2017, will finally be published.
These are 100 faces of infected blood victims that either they, or their families, have shared with Sky News.
Click the images to read their stories.
Sky News will have full coverage of the infected blood report on TV, online and on the Sky News app today.
Sky News would like to thank everyone who contributed to this project.
Julian Assange will be allowed to appeal against his extradition to the United States.
Two judges responded today to US assurances that Mr Assange will not face the death penalty – and can rely on the First Amendment right to free speech if he faced a trial for spying.
The WikiLeaks founder faces prosecution in the US over an alleged conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information after the publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on the balcony of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in 2017. Pic: Reuters
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in a police van after being arrested in London in 2019. Pic: Reuters
Edward Fitzgerald KC, representing Assange, criticised the assurances of Joe Biden’s US administration at the hearing. He said: “Based on the principle of the separation of powers, the US court can and will apply US law, whatever the executive may say or do.”
He added most of the promises were “blatantly inadequate” – but they had accepted the promise about the death penalty.
In written submissions, the barrister said while the assurance over the death penalty was “an unambiguous executive promise”, the other assurance does not give “any reliable promise as to future action”.
The barrister added: “What needs to be conclusively removed is the risk that he will be prevented from relying on the first amendment on grounds of nationality.”
But James Lewis KC, representing the US government, insisted the “judicial branch of the United States will take due notice of this solemn assurance given by its government in the course of international relations”.
In written submissions, he said there is “no question” that Assange, if extradited, “will be entitled to the full panoply of due process trial rights, including the right to raise, and seek to rely upon, the first amendment as a defence”.
He later told the court: “The assurance does make it clear that he will not be discriminated against because of his nationality.
“He can and will be able to raise all those arguments and his nationality will not prejudice a fair trial.”
Today’s decision is the latest chapter in 13 years of legal battles and detentions for Australian-born Mr Assange.
Supporters of Mr Assange have been gathering outside the High Court. Pic: Reuters
Pic: Reuters
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The US authorities want to put Mr Assange on trial over 18 charges, nearly all under the Espionage Act.
They claim his actions with WikiLeaks were reckless, damaged national security, and endangered the lives of agents.
During a two-day hearing in February, lawyers for Mr Assange asked for permission to challenge a judge’s dismissal of the majority of his case to prevent his extradition.
In March, Dame Victoria Sharp and Mr Justice Johnson dismissed most of Mr Assange’s legal arguments – but said unless assurances were given by the US, he would be able to bring an appeal on three grounds.
These assurances are that Assange would be protected by and allowed to rely on the First Amendment – which protects freedom of speech in the US – that he is not “prejudiced at trial” due to his nationality, and that the death penalty is not imposed.
Pic: Reuters
Pic: Reuters
Supporters of Mr Assange have already been gathering outside the High Court to continue their calls for his release.
Mr Assange is currently being held in London’s high security Belmarsh prison.
Detectives are on the hunt for two men following a fatal stabbing in Glasgow at the weekend.
Police Scotland said the force received a report of a man being attacked and stabbed in Saracen Street, Possil, at around 5pm on Saturday.
Emergency services attended and took the 27-year-old victim to the city’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, where he later died.
The death is being treated as “suspicious” ahead of the completion of a post-mortem examination.
Investigating officers have since established that two men were involved in the attack.
The suspects have been described as white and in their 30s.
One was wearing a light-blue top and black shorts, while the other was dressed in a white top, black shorts and black trainers.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Officers have been gathering and reviewing CCTV footage from in and around the neighbourhood as the probe continues.
Additional patrols have also been mobilised to the area, and anyone with information or concerns can approach these officers.
Read more from Sky News:
The stories behind 100 victims of infected blood scandal
Probe launched after man dies in police custody
Detective Inspector Lesley-Ann McGee said: “It was a warm, sunny day and there were lots of people out enjoying the weather in Saracen.
“I am asking them to get in touch with us with any information that could assist us in establishing the motive for this attack. If you saw, heard or know anything please contact us.
“I’m also asking people with dashcam or doorbell recording equipment to check for any footage that could assist our investigation.
“A family is mourning the loss of a loved one and it’s imperative we are able to answer how their loved one died.”
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