Theresa May set for first by-election victory after disastrous poll reveals THIRD of Labour voters in Copeland are deserting Jeremy Corbyn

THERESA May is set for her first by-election victory after disastrous polling revealed almost a THIRD of Labour voters in Copeland are deserting Jeremy Corbyn.

Sources claim canvas returns show that just 70% of those who voted for the party at the 2015 General Election will plug for them again in the crunch by-election next week.

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The Tories are so confident that the Prime Minister will make a personal appearance to the Cumbrian constituency dominated by the Sellafield nuclear plant later this week.

Bookies are pricing the Tories at 4-9 odds on for a victory.

One Westminster insider said: “The Tories have got Copeland in the bag. Everyone in the Cabinet has been up there. They’re throwing everything at it.”

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The claims came as Labour equalled its lowest level EVER in nationwide polls – just 24 per cent. YouGov said the Tories now had a 16 point lead UK-wide.

The canvas returns in Copeland come from conversations on the doorstep in the constituency.

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Some suggest up to 33 per cent of Labour’s 2015 vote in the constituency has switched – largely to the Conservatives.

The by-election was triggered by the resignation of Jamie Reed before Christmas. He took the seat in 2015 with a 2,564 majority from the Tories.

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Conservative campaigners have played on Jeremy Corbyn’s anti-nuclear views in an area where 20,000 jobs rely on a planned new nuclear plant near to Sellafield.

Labour picked a former ambulance driver Gillian Troughton to contest the seat who vowed she was pro-nuclear “no ifs, no buts”.

Sources claim the situation was so bad Labour were now devoting “all the resources they have” to a separate by-election in Stoke – where the party is up against UKIP leader Paul Nuttall.

Labour’s new campaign chief Ian Lavery on Sunday insisted that it would only be a “hiccup” if the party lost in Copeland and Stoke.