A new poll for the Sun predicts that UKIP will shake off weeks of negative headlines and win today’s European Elections. The YouGov projection, based on a larger-than-usual sample of 6,124 voters over the past two days, gives the anti-EU party the highest support, at 27 percent.
Labour are a very close second at 26 percent, while the Conservatives are third with 22. The Liberal Democrats are in a dismal fifth place, behind the Greens, on just 9 percent.
The poll predicts that UKIP and Labour will win 22 seats each, an increase of nine for both parties. The Conservatives face losing 10 seats, down to a total of 16 MEPs. The Liberal Democrats face a near-wipe out, holding just three of the 11 seats they currently have. Meanwhile, the Greens look set to double their number of MEPs, increasing from two to four.
A UKIP victory in today’s elections would be a huge upset. Despite the party suffering weeks of bad headlines in the press, it has been riding high in the polls, with the public seemingly sympathising with it against establishment attacks. It would also be the first time a party without any seats in the House of Commons has come first in a national election.
Although Labour also look set to do well, the result would still be embarrassing for them as it would be the first time in 30 years that the main opposition party has not won the European Elections.
The result would be even worse for the Conservatives, however, at it would be the first time in the party’s history that it has finished third in a nationwide election.