LEIGH could return a Conservative MP for the first time in December's general election, according to the first opinion poll of its kind.

The MRP YouGov poll yesterday predicted a big majority for the Conservative Party in the election in two weeks' time with Boris Johnson's Tories set to pick up 359 seats.

The first opinion poll of its kind in the 2019 general election projected what would be a shock victory for the Tories in the Leigh constituency, which has previously been held by Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham.

The seat, currently occupied by Jo Platt, has been a Labour stronghold, having been held by the party since 1922.

Leigh Journal:

Jo Platt is defending the seat in the election

YouGov's first localised poll of the campaign, using the same methodology that helped it to predict the 2017 result, forecasted a 68-seat majority for the Conservatives nationally, with Leigh among proposed Tory gains.

On the poll's calculation Labour would lose 51 seats, while the Liberal Democrats would gain one compared to the last election.

The constituency-by-constituency estimate says the Tories would take 43 per cent of the national vote, and in number of seats this would be its best performance since 1987.


Labour, meanwhile, is set to fall from 262 seats in 2017 to 211, and taking 32 per cent of the vote, a nine percentage point decrease.


This would be the party's worst performance in seats won since 1983, YouGov said, adding that the opposition is on course to not take any new seats.


YouGov used the same method in the 2017 general election, when it accurately predicted a hung Parliament.

The poll shows Leigh on a knife-edge with the Tories narrowly in front by less than one per cent.

In 2017, Labour's Jo Platt won the seat with a majority of almost 10,000.

Lowton East councillor James Grundy is standing in the seat for the Conservatives.

In his campaign he has prioritised getting Brexit done, reconnecting Leigh to the national rail network, regenerating town centres and getting more police on to the streets.