Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab in danger of losing his seat

Pro-Brexit Dominic Raab could lose his Home Counties safe seat as pro-Remain Tories desert the Foreign Secretary and give their support to the Liberal Democrats. 

Mr Raab enjoys a healthy majority of 23,298 in his Esher and Walton seat in Surrey, but a Deltapoll survey of the constituency indicates he now only holds a five-point lead over his Lib Dem opponent Monica Harding. 

The Tories have held the seat since 1910, but it voted 58 per cent Remain in the 2016 referendum – and the former Brexit secretary is vocally anti-Brussels.

Lib Dem candidate Monica Harding, pictured centre, has seen a massive boost in support for her party 

Deltapoll UK conducted the survey between November 21 and 26

Tactical switching by Labour supporters or a higher turnout among the under-40s could hand the seat to the Liberal Democrats.

The Observer said when Deltapoll asked how people would vote if they saw it as a contest between the Tories and Lib Dems, the two parties were tied at 48 per cent.

Mr Raab is set to lose half of the 12,000 pro-remain supporters who returned him to Westminster in 2017 following Theresa May’s botched election campaign. 

A defeat for Mr Raab in a safe Tory seat would be seen as this election’s ‘Portillo moment’, following Michael Portillo’s shock defeat in 1997.  

Deltapoll rang 500 people in the constituency between November 21 and 28 and asked them about their voting intentions. 

Mr Raab received support from 46 per cent of people – down 13 per cent. The Liberal Democrats were on 41 per cent – an increase of 24 per cent. Labour’s support has fallen 11 points, to 9 per cent.  

The poll seems to show evidence that electors in the safe Tory seat are considering voting tactically to remove the hard-line Brexiteer from office. 

Mr Raab, who attended a hustings event in his constituency was booed after he refused to stop and talk to the grieving parents of a man who was killed in a road accident involving a U.S. diplomat’s wife, British television channels reported on Tuesday.

The case of Harry Dunn, 19, who died in August after his motorcycle collided with a car driven by Anne Sacoolas, has caused difficulties for Raab since Sacoolas left Britain claiming diplomatic immunity, outraging many Britons.

Mr Raab, who was booed on Monday at a hustings event in his constituency, is at risk of tactical voting, with pro-Remain Tories supporting the Lib Dems to oust the arch Brexiteer

Arriving at an election candidates’ debate in his parliamentary constituency on Monday night, Raab refused to stop for a conversation with Tim Dunn, Harry Dunn’s father, who has publicly criticised Raab’s handling of the case.

Mr Dunn said: ‘We feel he’s lied to us two or three times in meetings and in statements he’s made in the (House of) Commons, And we feel that people should know how he really is as a gentleman and how he comes across to us as our family.’

Footage of the two men’s brief exchange, broadcast by ITV, showed Raab telling Dunn that he would be happy to see him any time but did not want to keep the audience inside the debate venue waiting.

After Dunn repeated his request to talk to him, Raab pointed his finger at Dunn, saying it was ‘not on’ that Dunn was trying to talk to him ‘right in front of the cameras’, then turned away and strode off.

Dunn and a group of his supporters were denied access to the debate venue. The BBC quoted a member of staff at the church saying this was due to fire safety concerns.

The group waited until the end of the debate and booed Raab as he left.