A REPORT has suggested the Barrow and Furness constituency is likely to turn blue if there was a snap election.

According to YouGov, the seat, currently held by the independent MP John Woodcock, has a 60 per cent chance of swinging towards the Conservatives.

Standing as a Labour candidate, Mr Woodcock beat Tory choice Simon Fell at the last election in 2017 with a slim majority of 209.

The MP resigned from the Labour party last year to sit an as independent after claiming a disciplinary case against him to investigate allegations he sent inappropriate texts to a female aide was “unfair”. He denies the claims.

The forecast was drawn from a poll of 40,000 people in the country and was conducted by the polling group which correctly predicted the 2017 general election.

Responding to the report, Mr Woodcock said: “This survey takes no account of the fact that I will be standing as an independent to give an alternative to the broken politics of Labour and Tory. I can understand why people are turning away from Labour under Jeremy Corbyn given the massive threat he poses to jobs in Barrow shipyard but they should also have the chance to reject the Conservative austerity that has cut our community to the bone."

Mr Fell, the Furness spokesman for the Conservatives, said: “I would take these figures with a pinch of salt. At the last election we were predicted a majority of 100 seats and it didn’t happen.

“At the moment we are focused on the next election in 2022 - there is no need to hold one before then.”

Furness Labour candidate Chris Altree said: “The only poll I am interested in is the general election and I am ready to fight for my home constituency.

“My focus will be on getting the real Labour message out there on health, on education, on housing, on transport and economic policies as well as party policy which supports the Dreadnought submarine programme, as I always have.

“There has been a huge upsurge of energy throughout the local party and support is flooding in.”