Theresa May woos Labour stronghold as she targets South Wales votes in the Valleys for FIRST time in decades
PM mounts major election land grab by becoming first Tory leader in decades to campaign in Welsh Valleys seats
THERESA May declared she is now chasing “every vote” in Britain as she stuns Labour by targeting its South Wales heartland.
The PM mounts a major election land grab by becoming the first Tory leader in decades to campaign in the Valleys.
The region has been a Labour bastion for 100 years, and returned to Westminster no less than five of its former party leaders.
The Tory leader’s audacious bid was given a big boost when a shock poll revealed the Conservatives now have a 10 point lead over Labour in the principality.
Mrs May’s party haven’t won the most votes in a general election in Wales since 1859.
Wales voted for Brexit by 52.5% to 47.5%, leaving many of Remain-backing Labour’s usual supporters alienated from the party, Tory campaign bosses believe.
Mrs May last night called on them to switch to the Tories instead to strengthen her Brexit deal talks.
In an article for this morning’s Western Mail, the PM writes: “This election is not about the kind of tribal politics that has held sway in Wales for many years.
“It is about the future.
“I will be fighting to earn every vote I can in this election, because every vote I receive will strengthen my hand as I negotiate with the Prime Ministers, Presidents and Chancellors of Europe.
“Every vote I receive will be a vote to give me the mandate to deliver for Britain.”
The PM also attacked Labour Welsh leader Carwyn Jones for signing up to national boss Jeremy Corbyn’s plans to borrow £500bn extra, accusing him of “undoing all the progress we have made at a stroke”.
And she tore into Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru for “propping up Labour” in the Cardiff government.
The stunning YouGov poll for ITV News put the Tories in Wales up 12 points on 40%, Labour on 30%, Plaid on 13%, the Lib Dems on 8% and UKIP on 6%.
The finding suggests Mrs May’s party would take 10 seats off Labour, leaving them with a total of 21 MPs in Wles, Labour with 15, Plaid Cymru with three and the Lib Dems one.
Two South Wales constituencies are in the Tories’ top 40 target list – Newport West, with a majority of 3,510 and Bridgend, with a 1,927 majority.
Former Labour leaders Neil Kinnock, Michael Foot, James Callaghan, Ramsay MacDonald and its founder Keir Hardie all represented South Wales constituencies.
In a UK wide poll yesterday by ICM for The Guardian, the Conservatives climbed to 48% of support – their highest vote share the pollster has recorded since 1983.
The survey put Labour on 27%, the Lib Dems on 10%, Ukip on 7% and the Greens on 3%.