Polls Forecast UK Conservatives’ Narrow Victory Over Labour at Thursday Election

The UK Conservative Party headed by Prime Minister Theresa May is expected gain slightly more votes than its main opponent, the Labour Party, at the Thursday parliamentary elections, various UK polls reveal.

LONDON (Sputnik) – The Conservative Party’s lead may amount to 1.2–12 percent according to different surveys, which is less than it was several weeks earlier before a number of terror attacks in the United Kingdom.

On April 18, May announced her decision to hold an early parliamentary election on June 8 to overcome divisions in the parliament and succeed in the negotiations with the European Union on Brexit. During the last elections held in 2015 the Conservative Party gained an absolute majority of votes getting 330 out of 650 seats in the parliament.

The Tories have been favorites of the election race for a long time with 44 percent of public support registered by the YouGov poll before the May 22 terror attack in Manchester. The Labour Party was expected to gain only 35 percent of votes, according to that poll. The Survation pollster even forecast a 16 percent lead of the Tories over the Labour Party on May 9.

The Manchester attack changed the situation with the Conservative Party losing its support and the Labour Party closing the gap. The new deadly attack that hit London on Saturday only boosted the trend.

According to the latest YouGov poll, the Conservative Party may count on 42 percent of votes and from 269 to 334 seats in the parliament, while the Labour Party can get 38 percent of votes and from 238 to 302 seats.

The Liberal Democrats are expected to win 9 percent of votes, the Scottish National Party (SNP) – 4 percent and the UK Independence Party (UKIP) – 3 percent.

The survey issued by the Opinium pollster on Tuesday said that the Conservative Party could win the elections with 43 percent beating the Labour Party, which was expected to gain 36 percent. The Liberal Democrats came third with 8 percent with a three-percent lead over the UKIP.

The final poll issued by the Survation company on Monday forecast that the Tories’ lead over the Labour Party would amount to only 1.2 percent, with the ruling party gaining 41.5 percent of votes.

A survey of the ICM pollster issued on Wednesday is more optimistic for the Conservative Party, which is expected to win 46 percent of votes, which is 12 percent more than the public support of the Labour Party.

The Wednesday poll of the ComRes company is not less positive for the Tories as it also expects the ruling party to get 12 percent more than their main opponents.