North Shropshire by-election: Lib-Dem poll suggests vote could be tighter than first thought
A leaked poll carried out by the Liberal Democrats suggests the North Shropshire by-election could be much tighter than many expect.
The party's internal polling, based on postal voting intention only, put Tory candidate Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst 9.9 points ahead of Liberal Democrat challenger Helen Morgan.
The poll put the Conservatives on 47.7 per cent, the Liberal Democrats on 37.8 per cent, and Labour candidate Ben Wood on 10.5 per cent. Green candidate Duncan Kerr polled 1.9 per cent.
Polling analyst British Electoral Politics said the survey should be treated with some scepticism: "Since it is an internal one, we can’t know the methodology so naturally it requires a pinch of salt."
But a spokesman added that a similar poll for the Chesham and Amersham by-election gave the Conservatives a lead of 23.8 points, with the Liberal Democrats going on to win.
The Liberal Democrats have been accused of deliberately leaking the poll in an effort to encourage Labour and Green supporters to vote tactically.
There have been social media campaigns calling for anti-Tory tactical voting, with Labour voters being urged to vote Liberal Democrat in North Shropshire, and Liberal Democrat supporters to vote Labour in the Old Bexley and Sidcup by-election.
The Tories held North Shropshire with a majority of almost 23,000 at the 2019 General Election.
Fourteen different candidates are standing in the by-election on December 16 which was prompted by the resignation of Conservative Owen Paterson after he was found to have broken paid lobbying rules.
