Labour support surges in Wales with 16-point shift towards Jeremy Corbyn's party

The party has overtaken the Tories in Wales and has a 10-point lead

First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones (PA)

Support for Labour has surged in Wales, with a massive 16-point shift in support towards Jeremy Corbyn's party, the latest poll shows.

A poll by YouGov just two weeks ago showed Welsh Labour trailing Theresa May's party, but a stunning reversal now puts Labour 10 points ahead.

The YouGov Welsh political barometer has Labour on 44 per cent, up 9 percentage points on two weeks ago, and the Tories on 34 per cent, down 7 percentage points.

The shift comes after the launch of Labour's manifesto, which included popular policies such as nationalising the railways, energy grid and water companies, as well as rent controls and taxes on the richest 5 per cent of earners.

The Conservatives have also had a nightmare week after a poor reception to their planned “dementia tax” care policy.

The party has moved up in the national UK-wide polls in recent weeks but still trails the Conservatives by around 10 points, depending on the poll in question.

The dramatic turnaround in Wales will give Labour hope they can achieve a similar transformation in UK-wide polls.

The regular Welsh poll was jointly commissioned by ITV Cymru Wales and Cardiff University’s Wales Governance Centre.

The poll would see Labour hold all its seats in Wales and take one off the Conservatives, Gower, the most marginal seat in the country.

It has top-line voting intention figures of LAB: 44% (+9) CON: 34% (-7) PC: 9% (-2) LDEM: 6% (-1) UKIP: 5% (+1).

Labour runs the Welsh Government, where Carwyn Jones has been First Minister since 2009.

Writing on his blog, Professor Roger Scully of Cardiff University said: “At least for the moment, Labour seem to be winning the campaign, if not the election as a whole. That is particularly true in Wales.

“The recent local elections showed the resilience of the Welsh Labour party. A party does not dominate the politics of a nation for nearly a century, as Labour have done in Wales, simply by accident.

“Challenged strongly by the Conservatives in this election, Labour seem to be fighting back strongly. There are more than two weeks of campaigning to go, and all to play for. And Labour are still very much in the game.”