A TORY MINISTER rang a Sky News reporter live on air – and promptly ended the call – as the programme reported on polling that predicts he and other ministers could lose their seats in the UK general election.
The UK’s Conservative Party is expected to see significant losses in the election on 4 July to the Labour Party, which some polling suggests may be on track for its biggest election success ever.
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps is among the prominent Tory figures who could lose a seat, as well as Justice Secretary Alex Chalk, Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt and former minister Jacob Rees-Mogg.
Sky News was reporting on the election yesterday when one of the journalists on air, Sam Coates, received a phone call from Shapps.
Coates answered the call and informed Shapps he was live on Sky News and asked him if he had a comment about the forecast that he could lose his seat.
Shapps gave no response and swiftly ended the call.
Different polls give slightly different forecasts of exact seat numbers but there is a general consensus that Labour is on track for a sweeping victory.
YouGov analysis published yesterday said Labour could potentially win around 400 seats and cut the Tories down to 140.
The poll of 58,000 people, which was carried out for Sky News, suggests Labour could get a majority of 194, which would be the largest margin for any party in the UK in the last century, while Liberal Democrats would win 48 seats, the SNP on 17 and the Green Party moving only marginally from one to two seats.
Our first MRP of the 2024 general election shows Labour winning a majority of 194, larger than even Tony Blair's landslides
— YouGov (@YouGov) June 3, 2024
Labour: 422 (+220 from GE2019)
Conservative: 140 (-225)
Lib Dem: 48 (+37)
SNP: 17 (-31)
Green: 2 (+1)
PC: 2 (-2)
Reform UK: 0 (=)https://t.co/P20M6KsS4p pic.twitter.com/bRkmaVeAwh
A separate MRP analysis published by More in Common and the News Agents podcast earlier yesterday suggested Labour was on course for its biggest majority in 23 years, using analysis based on voting intention data collected between 9 April and 29 May from 15,089 adults.
Additional reporting by Press Association
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