https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/labour-and-tory-campaigns-flounder-betting-row-deepens

BOTH major parties are looking like busted flushes, Britain’s top polling guru suggested today, as PM Rishi Sunak struggled to contain the Tory gambling row.

BBC elections guru John Curtice said that neither Tories nor Labour were having a “fruitful” campaign, with each having lost 4 per cent in the polls since the election was called a month ago.

That is clearly worse news for the Conservatives than Labour, since it leaves the gap between the two unchanged at 20 per cent, putting Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s shrivelling party in Commons landslide territory.

That prospect is reinforced by the scandal over insider betting by Tory candidates and senior officials, which Mr Sunak seems incapable of containing.

Former minister Tobias Ellwood conceded today that the party was certain to lose additional seats — “I have no doubt about it” — because of the controversy, which has seen the Gambling Commission launch a probe into whether four top Tories used prior knowledge of the election date to cash in.

Mr Ellwood, who is standing for re-election, said that the row was overshadowing the Tory election campaign and that “the public wants to see clearer, robust action.”

…

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/labour-and-tory-campaigns-flounder-betting-row-deepens