PM would win 100-seat majority in snap election, says influential pollster

Theresa May would be on course for a 100-seat majority if she called a snap general election this year, according to an influential pollster.

Elections analyst Robert Hayward told Sky News the Tories would surge to victory if Mrs May went to the country in the coming months, fresh from triggering Article 50.

The party could lose up to 15 seats to the Liberal Democrats, his projections suggest, but make major gains from Labour and could take a handful of seats from the Scottish Nationalists.

Lord Hayward said: "My expectation is if there was an election this year - and I don't expect there will be one - the Tory majority would be towards 100."

Mrs May has repeatedly played down the chances of a snap poll and last month her spokesman told journalists: "It isn't going to happen."

But reports suggest potential dates have been discussed by cabinet ministers, and this weekend the Labour Party was reported to have been building a funding war chest to fight one.

Lord Hayward, a former Conservative MP in Bristol, also predicted a catastrophic night for Labour in May's local elections, with losses of around 125 seats to all parties.

It is highly unusual for the main opposition party not to make gains in local elections. He predicted Labour could be on course for its worst election results since 1985 after the damaging SDP split.