The Big-Name Tories Who Could Lose Their Seats At The General Election
Jacob Rees-Mogg is among the top Conservatives who could find themselves out of the Commons after the election.Yet another opinion poll has predicted that the Tories are heading for catastrophe at the general election.
The YouGov survey for The Times, published last night, suggested that Labour is on course to win more than 400 seats, with the Conservatives left with just 155.
That came hard on the heels of a Survation poll at the weekend which said the Tories could be left with fewer than 100 seats as the party is virtually wiped out across the country.
Such results would inevitably lead to a number of well-known Conservative MPs losing their seats.
Here, HuffPost UK looks at the big-name Tories who face being booted out of the Commons.
Jacob Rees-Mogg
The 54-year-old has been the MP for North East Somerset since 2010 and retained the seat with a healthy 14,729 majority at the last election.
Nevertheless, the latest YouGov poll suggests he is currently trailing his Labour rival with the next election just months away.
Rees-Mogg, an arch-Brexiteer who served in both Boris Johnson and Liz Truss’ cabinets, would be seen as a huge scalp, making him particularly vulnerable to tactical voting.
Jeremy Hunt
The chancellor’s nervousness about his electoral chances can be seen in the number of posts on X (formerly Twitter) he does highlighting the work he does on behalf of his constituents in South West Surrey, where he has been MP since 2005.
His majority of 8,817 makes him extremely vulnerable if the Tory vote across the country collapses, and the Lib Dems are keen to oust him on election night.
James Cleverly
On paper, the home secretary should be relatively safe in Braintree, where he has a healthy majority of 24,673.
However, according to Survation, Cleverly is among those at risk of being deposed unless Rishi Sunak can quickly turn around the Conservatives’ fortunes.
Grant Shapps
The defence secretary is among those eyeing up the Tory leadership if Sunak is deposed after the election. But according to Survation, he might not even be an MP by then.
Shapps has been the MP for Welwyn Hatfield since 2005, and was re-elected in 2019 with a majority of 10,995.
The seat is 115th on Labour’s list of targets, but a disastrous night for the Conservatives could see it turn red.
Penny Mordaunt
Panicking Tory plotters have reportedly lined up the Commons leader to take over from Sunak ahead of the general election in a bid to avert disaster.
But Mordaunt should be concerned with hanging on to her Portsmouth North seat if the polls are to be believed.
She has represented the constituency since 2010 and retained it by more than 15,000 votes in 2019. However, all the indications are that she is vulnerable to a Labour surge next time around.
Iain Duncan Smith
The former Tory leader is defending a majority of just 1,262 in Chingford and Woodford Green, making his seat one of Labour top targets.
He has held the seat since 1992, but it will be a major surprise if he manages to hold on next time.
David TC Davies
Another cabinet minister facing the chop.
The Welsh secretary has a majority of 9,982 in Monmouth, where he has been the MP since 2005.
But according to YouGov, the seat is another one set to fall to Labour at the next election.
Er ... Rishi Sunak?
Unbelievably, the prime minister’s own seemingly ultra-safe seat of Richmond in North Yorkshire is yet another that could fall to Labour.
Sunak has been the local MP since 2015, when he replaced William Hague, and has a huge majority of 27,210.
But the Survation poll suggested that even he cannot be completely sure of being re-elected if the Tories’ worst nightmares are confirmed.
