Six cabinet ministers set to lose seats in Tory blue wall rout, new poll shows

Six cabinet ministers are set to lose their seats at the next general election as the Conservatives come under assault in the so-called blue wall of safe Tory seats, a new poll shows.

The Labour party is expected to storm home with a majority of 90 seats, and 39 per cent of the vote, according to a poll by Stonehaven.

The ministers who would be unseated are chancellor Jeremy Hunt, party chairman Greg Hands and justice secretary Alex Chalk.

Welsh secretary David TC Davies is also expected to be unseated by Labour as well as chief whip Simon Hart and international development minister Andrew Mitchell, the poll says.

Senior Tories including former business secretary Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg are also expected to lose out at the election.

The poll, conducted by The Times, highlights the vulnerability of the Tories in their traditional southern heartlands, with the party haemorrhaging support to the Liberal Democrats under leader Sir Ed Davey.

It shows Rishi Sunak on course to win the fewest seats of any Conservative leader since William Hague in 2001, with just 196 seats. Labour is set to win 372 seats, the poll showed.

The poll comes amid fears that widespread tactical voting would see the Tories return their worst election result in more than a century.

With Mr Sunak lagging Sir Keir Starmer in the polls, fears are mounting that the Tories could be facing a 1997-like defeat.

In 1997, seven cabinet ministers including Michael Portillo and Sir Malcolm Rifkind lost their seats.

But, with key by-elections coming up,Labour and the Liberal Democrats could allow the Tories to win the Mid Bedfordshire by-election by splitting the vote, according to polling guru Professor Sir John Curtice.

Anti-Tory campaigners have called on opposition leaders Sir Keir and Sir Ed Davey to agree on a “non-aggression” pact in the blue-wall seat vacated by Nadine Dorries.