Man bets £10,000 on Jeremy Corbyn and Labour to win general election

Punter from Norwich is in line for £182,000 windfall if left-winger defies polls

A man has placed £10,000-worth of bets on Jeremy Corbyn to be Prime Minister and Labour winning a majority in the Commons at the 8 June general election.

The unnamed punter put £6,000 on Mr Corbyn to become PM at 12/1 odds — and another £3,000 on Labour winning the most seats, at 20/1. A further £1,000 went on Labour to achieve a majority, at 40/1.

The man, who placed his bet in Norwich, could see a £182,000 return if Mr Corbyn's party defies the polls and all his predictions turn out to be right, said Betfred.

The bookmaker added that a similar bet of £10,000 on Labour winning the most seats and an overall majority had been placed in Mr Corbyn's constituency of Islington North.

It has since cut odds on Mr Corbyn being the next occupant of Number 10.

"The leak of the Labour manifesto has put the cat amongst the pigeons re-igniting political debate," a spokesman said. "The Conservatives are huge favourites but the landslide may not be as big as generally predicted.

"Although the leak has caused embarrassment to the party the fact is the far-reaching plans that include more investment in the NHS, as well as substantial nationalisation, have already been voted winning policies amongst the increasing number of our political punters.

"Consequently the odds on Labour winning the most seats are now 14/1 from 20/1 and Corbyn to win the keys to number ten 10/1 from 12/1."

He added: "The Tories to win the most seats is the most popular bet even though the odds are 1/25 from 1/50 earlier in the week.

"We are well on target for there to be £2m-plus bets on this general election, which would be a record for a single political event, beating the Brexit referendum and Donald Trump unexpectedly beating Hillary Clinton to become US President."