Poll shows Tories are on course for a MASSIVE 17-point win in Hartlepool

Keir Starmer begged for more time to turn Labour’s fortunes around today as shock polls showed he is on track for disaster on ‘Super Thursday’.

The Labour leader admitted he still has a ‘mountain to climb’ after Survation research found the Tories are set for a stunning victory in Hartlepool – with their candidate Jill Mortimer 17 points clear in the by-election for a Westminster seat the party has never held.

Separate polls have put the Conservatives on course to romp home in the West Midlands and Tees Valley mayoral battles – cementing their control of the ‘Red Wall’ that delivered the historic Commons majority in 2019. 

The Hartlepool survey for ITV’s Good Morning Britain comes with health warnings as it is a relatively small sample, and was conducted a week ago before Boris Johnson‘s ‘wallpapergate’ scandal fully took hold.

But it suggests that Sir Keir is facing a brutal night as he struggles to resurrect Labour’s fortunes after Jeremy Corbyn oversaw its worst general election defeat since 1935. 

As bookies slashed the odds on him being gone by Christmas, Sir Keir tried to put a brave face on the situation, saying he will take ‘full responsibility’ for the results.

He said his job is to ‘rebuild the Labour Party’ and insisted that nobody ‘realistically’ thought he could fix the damage from the Corbyn era quickly. 

‘I understand that every vote needs to be earned,’ he said. 

Sir Keir dodged questions over whether he might even quit if the outcome is dire for Labour, and complained that people were ‘missing the point’ about his much-derided photo op in John Lewis. 

Tories have been warning they are likely to lose some council seats as they are defending the results of the drubbing that was handed to Labour in 2017 by Theresa May, before her premiership turned sour.

The by-election and mayoral races are likely to define who is seen as winning of losing ‘Super Thursday’. 

Opinium research for the Northern Powerhouse Partnership published today suggests that in the critical ‘Red Wall’ mayoral battles in the West Midlands and Tees Valley the Conservative incumbents are coasting home. 

Andy Street is projected to beat Labour’s Liam Byrne by 59 per cent to 41 per cent in the run-off in the former – a far cry from his narrow win in 2017.

And Ben Houchen is on track to see of his competition in Tees Valley with a landslide 63 per cent of first preferences. 

Sir Keir told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘I hope we won’t lose Hartlepool, we’re fighting for every vote there and I know that every vote has to be earned and that’s why I’ve been in Hartlepool three times in the campaign and we’ve got teams on the ground.

‘My job as Labour leader was to rebuild the Labour party out of that devastating loss in 2019 and put us in a position to win the next general election.

‘I said on the day that I was elected that that was a mountain to climb. It is, we’re climbing it and I’ve got a burning desire to build a better future for our country, and Thursday is a first step towards that better future.

‘But I don’t think anybody realistically thought that it was possible to turn the Labour party round from the worst general election result since 1935 to a position to win the next general election within the period of one year; it was always going to take longer than that.’ 

Asked on Sky News whether ‘taking responsibility’ meant he might resign, Sir Keir said: ‘Well, look, I do take full responsibility for these election results. 

‘I take full responsibility for everything that the Labour Party does under my leadership, just as I took full responsibility for everything the Crown Prosecution Service did when I was Director of Public Prosecution.’ 

Mr Johnson seemed to receive a warm reception when he visited Hartlepool yesterday, elbow bumping locals and posing for selfies.

A bullish premier dismissed the impact of the row over his lavish No11 flat refurbishment, saying people would not focus on ‘trivia.

The seat voted heavily for Brexit, but the Tories did not flip it in 2019 in the same way as much of the rest of Labour’s ‘Red Wall’.

Other national polls have suggested that Conservative support is dipping as the lobbying and refurbishment rows take their toll – although the party was enjoying huge leads in the early stages of the campaign.

A much higher proportion of postal votes than normal are expected to be cast due to the pandemic, meaning many people could have made their decision before the allegations filtered through. 

In a sign of rising angst, one Cabinet minister told the Times: ‘For people who don’t like Boris it accentuates that.

‘That’s got to be a worry ahead of the local elections.’ 

In a call with Tory activists last night, Mr Johnson tried to play down expectations for Hartlepool – once held by New Labour mastermind Lord Mandelson. 

‘I want to stress that a lot of people are talking about Hartlepool — I have just been there,’ he said.

‘I think it’s important for people to understand this is not a seat that Conservatives have ever held. 

‘This is the stamping ground of Peter Mandelson. It’s very important for everybody to be aware of the deep psephological reality.

‘It’s a massive, massive challenge, it would be a quite extraordinary thing in my view if that were to happen — but that doesn’t mean that we’re not fighting for every single vote.’