Tories still favorite but hung parliament a real possibility, polling suggests – the guardian, theguardian.com

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All this reflect how sensitive the British political system is to slight variations in voting patterns, which is why the Conservatives are so nervous about how the party leader responds to a story about a young child having to sleep on a hospital floor. After all, while the Tories remain favorites, a hung parliament cannot be ruled out.

The method used, the so-called MRP (which stands for a modeling technique called multilevel regression and post-stratification), models a result for each constituency by creating a profile for how various demographic groups might vote, based on a large sample of (******************************************************************************************, interviews conducted over the previous six days.

First time around, the MRP was conducted after theConservativeshad largely squeezed out the Brexit party, but before Labor staged a modest recovery, when it, in turn, began to squeeze out the Lib Dems. The second poll shows precisely the impact that mini revival has had.

This timeLaboris predicted to make two gains, both in London, in Putney and Chipping Barnet, although still not any of the seats where the party has had a strong ground game with activists pounding the seats: Southampton Itchen, Hastings and Rye and Chingford and Wood Green.

As for the Conservatives, the poll predicts gains largely from Labor in the Midlands and north of England, including Sedgefield in County Durham (once held by Tony Blair), Bolsover, where Dennis Skinner is running again, as well as seats like Barrow-in-Furness and Ashfield in Derbyshire, where Labor insiders are already conceding the cause is all but lost.

But it is the Lib Dem figures that are particularly eye opening. YouGov thinks the party could overturn a 9, 5210 majority in Winchester, pick up the South Cambridgeshire seat where Heidi Allen was briefly an MP for the party – and even predicts the party is in touching distance of foreign secretary Dominic Raab in Esher and Walton, where the majority was (**********************************************************************************************************, ****************************************************************************************. ********

If that proved to be the case, one might expect more dramatic results elsewhere. It suggests that the traditional Conservative vote is more vulnerable in the commuter belt than previously thought. But that is also seductive speculation: the poll’s principal conclusion is that Johnson is heading for a close win.

With a day to go until polls open on Thursday, two important stories have become clear. Will traditional Labor voters continue to turn their backs on the party led by Jeremy Corbyn? Could there be a late movement away from the Tories in London and the south east? Either way, it sets up a nerve-jangling finish.