Tory election results: Theresa May loses almost all the seats she visited on her nationwide campaign

Bolton MP brands Conservative campaign 'arrogant'

Theresa May delivers a speech to Conservative Party members as they launch their election campaign in Walmsley Parish Hall in Bolton in north-western Greater Manchester (Andrew Yates/Getty)

Theresa May's plan to target Labour constituencies has apparently backfired, with the Tories losing almost all of the seats she visited while on her campaign tour.

In many of the seats in Wales and the North West upon which Ms May had focused her personal efforts, Labour increased its majorities.

More than half, or 57 per cent, of Ms May’s 70 campaign stops were in Labour seats including Halifax in Yorkshire and Bridgend in Wales, according to analysis by The Guardian published on Thursday.

Yet in the vast majority of these constituencies, the Conservatives were unsuccessful.

Labour held on to Bolton, the seat where the Conservatives launched their general election campaign. It was in Bolton that Ms May first uttered the “strong and stable” phrase that became her mantra during the election.

Sir David Crausby, who held the Bolton North East seat with a 3,800 majority, said the Conservative strategy to get local votes had been “arrogant”.

“We will not be cowed in Bolton by plastic campaigns," he said.

Labour's Holly Lynch also held her Halifax seat and increased her tiny majority of 428 to more than 5,000.

Ms May’s attempt to win votes in Wales was equally unsuccessful. In Bridgend, Labour’s Madeleine Moon increased her share of the vote from 37 per cent to 51 per cent.

In the Labour constituency of Wrexham, where the Conservatives launched their campaign, Labour MP Ian Lucas held on, increasing his majority by one vote from 1,831 to 1832.

The ConservativeHome website described the seat as "one of the party’s top targets" because of the area's high Leave vote, estimated to be 58 per cent.

A spate of polls during the election campaign initially showed the Conservatives up significantly in Wales, knocking Labour from first place.

But more recent polls conducted after Labour's manifesto launch showed an equally dramatic turnaround, with Mr Corbyn and Carwyn Jones's party re-taking and consolidating their lead.

In contrast to Ms May, Jeremy Corbyn spent the majority of his campaign shoring up support for Labour.