Ten Cabinet ministers are on course to lose their seats as voters reject Liz Truss ’s “reckless” handling of the economy and threats to workers’ rights.
A mega-poll shows the Tories are heading for electoral wipeout, with a whopping 219 of their MPs set to be ousted at the next election.
Casualties are expected to include newly-appointed Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, Deputy Prime Minister Therese Coffey, Tory Chairman Jake Berry and Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg.
Others set for the chop are Chief Secretary to the Treasury Ed Argar, Levelling Up Secretary Simon Clarke, Transport Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Work and Pensions Secretary Chloe Smith, Wales Secretary Robert Buckland and Cop President Alok Sharma.
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson is also projected to lose his Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat by a huge margin.
The TUC, which commissioned the poll conducted by Opinium, said it demonstrated the “significant” voter backlash the government faces if it follows through on its plan to rip up workplace protections.
The Government is preparing to push through legislation that would automatically scrap a swathe of worker protections linked to Britain’s former membership of the EU at the end of next year, unless ministers choose to keep them.
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady, who will kick off the trade union movement’s annual gathering in Brighton on Tuesday, said: “This Conservative government has set off a ticking time bomb under hard-won workers’ rights.
“Vital workplace protections – like holiday pay, safe limits on working hours and equal pay for women – are all at risk.
“Not content with throwing the economy into turmoil, ministers now seem determined to turn the clock back on rights in the workplace.
“This polling is a clear repudiation of Tory attacks on workers’ rights and their slash and burn economics.
“The Prime Minister has no mandate to take a sledgehammer to workers’ rights. Voters will punish her if she proceeds with these reckless plans.”
Opinium conducted a poll of more than 10,000 people before using its MRP model to project what this would mean in individual constituencies.
According to the results, Labour is set to win 411 seats, compared to 138 for the Conservatives, with the Liberal Democrats on 39 seats and SNP on 37.
Seven in 10 (71%) of those polled said they support retaining EU-derived workers’ rights such as holiday pay, safe limits on working times and rest breaks.
Chris Curtis, head of political polling at Opinium, said: “The new Prime Minister has faced a backlash from voters in her first month in office, with polls better resembling a nightmare than a honeymoon.
“The results are stark, showing that, if there were an election any time soon, a 1997-sized Labour landslide would be the most likely outcome.
“One of the main causes of the Tory poll flop is that the mini-Budget is convincing voters that the party is on the side of the wealthy rather than working people.
"If the government wants any chance of avoiding a once-in-a-generation wipeout at the next election then they need to turn this reputation around.
“One way they could do this is reverse their position on workers’ rights, with the polling showing that the vast majority of voters want stronger protections in the workplace.”
Opinium interviewed 10,495 adults in Great Britain on September 26-30.
The 10 Cabinet Ministers projected to lose their seats
Therese Coffey, Deputy PM and Health Secretary (Suffolk Coastal)
Jeremy Hunt, Chancellor (South West Surrey)
Ed Argar, Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Charnwood)
Jake Berry, Tory Chairman (Rossendale and Darwen)
Jacob Rees-Mogg, Business Secretary (North East Somerset)
Simon Clarke, Levelling Up Secretary (Middlesborough South and East Cleveland)
Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Transport Secretary (Berwick-upon-Tweed)
Chloe Smith, Work and Pensions Secretary (Norwich North)
Robert Buckland, Wales Secretary (South Swindon)
Alok Sharma, Cop President (Reading West)
