Boris Johnson would lead Tories to 140-seat majority and wipe out Farage’s Brexit Party, new poll says

BORIS Johnson would lead the Tories to a Thatcher-style landslide and wipe out the Brexit Party, a new poll suggested today.

The frontrunner in the race for No10 will today formally launch his campaign - warning: "Kick the can and we kick the bucket."

And he got a boost from a poll which suggested he is the only contender who could win a solid Commons majority for the Tories.

With just a day before the first vote tomorrow:

• Boris Johnson picked up the support of Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay
• Michael Gove's wife defended his "honesty" after he admitted taking cocaine
• Jeremy Hunt won the backing of top Remainer Greg Clark
• Sajid Javid launched his campaign calling himself "tomorrow’s leader, today"
• Remainer MPs staged a bid to rule out No Deal Brexit and tie the new PM's hands

A ComRes poll found that Boris is the candidate who would boost the Tories at the polls the most.

If Mr Johnson became PM, 37 per cent of voters said they would vote Tory with Labour on 22 per cent, Lib Dems 20 per cent and Nigel Farage's Brexit Party getting 14 per cent.

According to Electoral Calculus, that would give the Conservatives 395 seats - far ahead of Jeremy Corbyn's party on 151.

The Brexit Party would fail to pick up a single MP if those results came to pass.

The 140-seat majority would be the Tories' largest since Margaret Thatcher smashed Labour in 1983.

But some other pollsters warned against drawing firm conclusions based on the hypothetical results of a single survey.

Kick the can and we kick the bucket

Boris Johnson

Boris will today point to his track record beating Labour's Ken Livingstone in London as proof he can see off Mr Corbyn.

He is expected to say: "The last time I faced an emanation of that Marxist cabal I defeated him when the Conservatives were 17 points behind in London. And we can do it again."

And pledging to take us out of the EU on October 31 with or without a deal, Mr Johnson will blast: "We simply will not get a result if we give the slightest hint that we want to go on kicking the can down the road with yet more delay.

"Delay means defeat. Delay means Corbyn. Kick the can and we kick the bucket."

He is also expected to lay out more of his policy agenda - and could reveal whether or not he'll press ahead with a controversial plan to cut taxes for higher earners.

'WE MUST LEAVE'

Today Steve Barclay, the Brexit Secretary who has been masterminding the EU withdrawal agreement, announced he was supporting Boris.

He said: "We must leave on the October 31 - any further delays will continue to fracture public trust in not only our democratic system but also the Conservative party.

"We need a leader who will deliver Brexit and who has the ability to defeat both Corbyn and Farage."

Treasury Secretary Liz Truss added that the Halloween deadline for Brexit was a "do-or-die date".

The Sun revealed today that an array of top business bosses are backing Boris as the leader to "inspire" Britain.

Even MPs who don't support him are increasingly concluding that his victory is incredible - one told The Sun: "Of course Boris is going to win, as long as he doesn't drop the vase again."