Keir Starmer has reason to celebrate this New Year as his party heads into 2023 with a 26-point lead over the Tories.
A fresh poll conducted for GB News has put Labour on 45% of the national vote, the Conservatives on 19% and the Lib Dems on 8%.
Politics experts say it shows Labour is in “prime position” with more than enough support to win a majority at the next general election.
The poll will do little to calm the nerves of Tory MPs amid a exodus of senior politicians including former cabinet ministers Sajid Javid and Matt Hancock.
It follows revelations by HuffPost UK that senior Tory MPs are privately admitting they have already lost the next general election.
One former Tory cabinet minister told us that a Conservative Party defeat in 2024 was fast becoming a “self-fulfilling prophecy”.
The new survey also found that the public has little confidence that prime minister Rishi Sunak and his cabinet will reduce the cost of living burden.
Only 4% said they were “completely” or “fairly” confident that the government could reduce the cost of living in 2023.
A staggering 70% of the public is not confident at all. Among Conservative voters, 53% say they are not confident at all, whereas the number is 90% among Labour voters. Only two per cent of Conservative voters are completely confident the government can reduce the cost of living in 2023.
Asked if 2023 will be better or worse than 2022 for them and their family’s financial situation, 60% think it will be worse.
When asked about the word that first comes to mind when thinking about the year ahead in Britain, the five most popular terms were “difficult”, “tough”, “challenging”, “bleak”, and “worrying”.
A separate survey spelt out further problems for Sunak as he was left trailing behind Boris Johnson in a vote for minister of the year by the Conservative Home website.
Defence secretary Ben Wallace topped the poll of Tory members while Sunak was beaten into fifth place by three of his cabinet ministers and Johnson.
Commenting on the GB survey, politics expert professor Matt Goodwin said: “This is more bad news for Rishi Sunak and his team.
“The party’s recovery has not just stalled but now appears to be going backwards.
“Sir Keir Starmer and the Labour Party begin 2023 in prime position, with more than enough support for a majority at the next general election.
“Whatever Rishi Sunak does next, he’d better do it quick because the clock is now ticking, and he and his party are well behind.”