The Conservatives could be poised to win the three-way marginal of Pudsey with exit polls suggesting that the party has made significant inroads in key Labour area of the constituency.
Exit polls taken by this reporter at the Broadfields Aged Persons Home and the Lister Hill Baptist Church in Horsforth show that support for the Conservatives – who controlled Pudsey for more than 75 years until losing the seat to Labour in 1997 – is much higher than many predicted, with the Tories polling more than 50 per cent of the vote in an exit poll in one traditionally Labour part of the constituency.
Averaged out, the Tories polled 41.25 per cent compared to 30.4 per cent for Labour and 27.5 per cent for the Lib Dems.
An exit poll of 120 voters taken at the Aged Persons Home between 7.30am and 10.30am showed that support for the Conservatives was higher than predicted in the staunchly Labour, Broadfields ward of the town, with the party attracting one in four votes. This put them third behind Labour on 40.8 per cent and the Liberal Democrats on 32.5 per cent.
But more encouraging for the Tories were the results in the Brownberrie area of Horsforth, another traditionally Labour/Lib Dem area. An exit poll of 40 voters casting their vote at the Lister Hill Church over the peak lunchtime period showed that support for the Conservative Party stood at more than 57 per cent. Labour only polled 20 per cent and the Lib Dems 22.5.
I bumped into Conservative candidate Stuart Andrew at one of the polling stations. He said that the Tories have traditionally polled much lower than Labour in Horsforth and that their support tends to be concentrated in the nearby districts of Guiseley and Rawdon, and Calverley and Farsley.
Pudsey is 98th on the Conservative Party's list of target seats.
