A MAJOR new national election poll has predicted a Labour wipeout in Cumbria - with Barrow the most likely seat in the country to turn blue.
National polling company YouGov released their flagship election poll on Wednesday evening, predicting a comfortable Conservative majority of 68 seats across England, Scotland and Wales.
Most likely among the seats predicted by the pollsters to change hands is Barrow and Furness - with the Tories predicted to finish ahead by a stark 15 per cent.
While polls predicting outcomes are published often in the run-up to general elections, this poll has attracted outsized attention due to its special mathematical modelling - called MRP - which when used in 2017 resulted in the only broadly correct prediction of the final election outcome.
In Cumbria, the pollsters projected comfortable wins on December 12 for Tories John Stevenson in Carlisle, Trudy Harrison in Copeland and Simon Fell in Barrow and Furness.
Traditional safe seat Penrith and the Border brings no surprises, with a runaway Tory win predicted.
The one non-Tory seat predicted is Tim Farron’s Westmorland and Lonsdale, in which he is projected to win - but not by a comfortable margin.
And Workington, predicted to be handed to the Tories by a tiny one per cent, was concluded by YouGov to be too close to call.
Despite the prediction of a comfortable win for the Tories, Barrow candidate Simon Fell refuses to toast an early victory.
“We have to take it with a pinch of salt, we will take nothing for granted,” he said.
“When I have been out canvassing there is a lot of anger about Jeremy Corbyn and his views on Trident and Brexit.
“But I think it is going to be close.”
Barrow and Furness Labour candidate Chris Altree also predicted a close call.
“My experienced campaign teams have been knocking on doors virtually every day since October 1 and our analysis of the numbers gives us every reason to be confident,” he said.
Ged McGrath, Brexit Party candidate, added: “We believe that this is a three horse race and is going to be very close.”
n Also standing in Barrow and Furness are Loraine Birchall, Liberal Democrats and Chris Loynes, Green Party.
n Tell us your thoughts on the election by emailing news.em@newsquest.co.uk
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