Pollsters are predicting electoral wipeout for the Tories at the General Election as they suggest the most-dyed-in-wool south Essex seats will be snatched by Labour.

Data taken from Nowcast predict that if a General Election were to take place this moment in the UK, Southend West and Leigh and Southend East and Rochford would be taken by Labour.

According to the pollsters – who use data aggregated from the most recent published polls from the British Polling Council – there would also be a 13 per cent increase in vote share for Labour in both constituencies.

Southend East and Rochford, currently represented by Tory MP Sir James Duddridge, is projected to see a switch in fortunes with Labour taking 45.4 per cent of the vote.

It also predicts Labour would hold the seat with a 4,597 majority.

Southend West and Leigh, represented by Anna Firth, is expected to flip to a 2,272-Labour majority, polls suggest.

It would mean Labour would hold 41.7 per cent of the vote.

These are forecast to be the biggest swings in an upcoming election in south Essex.

Despite this, council leaders on both sides are resolute that more work is needed, and the polls should not be taken as an accurate prediction of the future.

Southend Labour group leader, Daniel Cowan, said: “I think the polling is good but what I would say is in Southend, polls are taken with a pinch of salt. We look at the polls like we look at perfume, it’s good to smell but it is not to swallow.

“We do not want to become complacent, and we are not going to, Southend has had enough complacency from politicians, and we will be looking to earn the right to lead.”

Mr Cowan added that he believes Sir Keir Starmer has transformed the party from one of protest to a government in waiting that would sway voters.

There are also suggestions it mirrors 1997 when Basildon went red while Labour was riding high under Tony Blair.

Mr Cowan said: “If you look at the polling since Sir Keir became leader, he was personally leading in the polls before Labour made gains. He has transformed the party as a serious and viable government in waiting.

“What we must remember is it is 2024, it is not 1997 but what we can learn from 1997 is when you have the same party leading the country to stagnation, that is not what people will vote for.

We are offering the same hope, and it could be an option for history to repeat itself.”

However, the rest of south Essex is predicted to stay blue.

Rayleigh and Wickford, Castle Point, South Basildon and East Thurrock and Basildon and Billericay will remain Conservative but will see a loss in the vote share. pollsters suggest.

Battlegrounds on a knife edge are Basildon and Billericay, which is predicted to have a wafer-thin 5 per cent gap in vote share between the Conservative majority and Labour.

In South Basildon and East Thurrock, there is also expected to be a 5 per cent gap between a Tory majority and Labour trailing second.

Southend’s Conservative council leader, Tony Cox, said: “I’ve looked at many election polls for Brexitand the last general election and the only poll I trust is the one that comes from the ballot box on the day. It is the only one that matters.

“My view is that there is no easy election regardless and we have to sell our message and earn the trust of the electorate, nothing is easier or harder, every election is an election and there is no such thing as a safe seat.

“I always look at actions. Actions speak louder than words,” Mr Cox said.

Nationally, Labour is predicted to make a 216 seat gain in a general election, with the Conservatives set to lose 227 seats.