Former British foreign minister predicts Donald Trump will win election

With just four days to go until election day, Hillary Clinton is currently ahead in the polls after Donald Trump briefly overtook her 

Alexandra Sims
Friday 04 November 2016 19:07 GMT
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With only a few days to go, Ms Clinton only has a single point lead in the latest head-to-head Fox news poll
With only a few days to go, Ms Clinton only has a single point lead in the latest head-to-head Fox news poll

A former Foreign Office minister has predicted Donald Trump will win the US presidential election.

Sir Hugo Swire, who was Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth affairs from 2012 until July 2016, said Mr Trump could be headed for the White House with support from Americans who will not publicly admit backing the controversial Republican candidate, but "will support him in the privacy of a polling station".

With just four days to go until election day, Hillary Clinton is currently ahead in the polls, after Mr Trump briefly overtook her following an announcement by the FBI chief James Comey that his organisation is investigating newly uncovered emails associated with Ms Clinton’s private server.

The Democrat politician has a 6.1 per cent lead over rival Mr Trump. 48.9 per cent of voters say they are backing Ms Clinton, compared to 42.8 per cent who are backing her Republican rival, according to figures released by TrumpxClinton, an election tracker which takes a rolling average of all major polls.

Both politicians are touring so-called "swing states", which commentators believe will make or break the campaigns.

Commenting on the outcome of the election Sir Hugo said, “I think he's [Mr Trump] going to win,” Politics Home reports, citing The House - Parliament's 'in-house' magazine.

“I'll tell you why he's going to win: if he's doing as well as he's doing in the polls at the moment, that means he's actually doing much better because there are an awful lot of people in America who wouldn't admit to supporting Trump who will support him in the privacy of a polling station," Sir Hugo said.

“You've got to understand the dislike for the Clintons in America, too. OK, there are 13 states in contention because of the electoral college and Hillary should do it but I don't think she can do it.”

Sir Hugo said the UK should be "alert" in the event of a Trump win, adding: “But there's nothing we can do it about and if it's for the Americans to decide who they want as their president."

Mr Trump enjoyed a recent surge of support, after the FBI's announcement was reported, with a

poll for ABC News and the Washington Post putting Mr Trump ahead by the smallest of margins- 46 per cent to Ms Clinton’s 45 per cent.

Stock markets responded to the news, with shares in Asia hitting a seven-week low following losses on Wall Street. FXTM Chief Market Strategist Hussein Sayed said he believed the markets were in the “early stages of panic” about the impending election.

Election day on Tuesday 8 November will see the culmination of one of the most divisive and turbulent elections in US history.

Mr Trump has suggested he may not accept the result if Ms Clinton wins, indicating he feels the election may be rigged. Mr Trump's statement in the third presidential debate made headlines across the country and raised questions about his commitment to a peaceful transition of power, a cornerstone of American democracy.

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