Poll predicts big Tory majority amid Labour collapse in the Black Country

That's according to YouGov's MRP poll, which forecasts that the Conservatives will win 359 seats for an overall majority of 68.

And the poll – which accurately predicted a hung parliament in 2017 – suggests the Tories will gain 44 seats from Labour, with the majority of them in Leave-voting heartlands.

It includes five gains from Labour across the Black Country, leaving Jeremy Corbyn's party with just three seats out of 13 in the four boroughs – a record low.

The data was released as reports emerged that Labour was changing its election strategy in a bid to appeal to Brexit supporters in parts of the Midlands and the north.

The YouGov seat-by-seat analysis was based on more than 100,000 interviews conducted over seven days. It strongly suggests that Mr Johnson's Brexit stance is appealing to Leave voters in the Black Country.

The poll predicts Tom Watson's old seat, West Bromwich East, will fall to the Tories for the first time ever, with the margin of victory just 1.06 per cent.

Neighbouring West Bromwich West will also go blue for the first time since it was formed 45 years ago, with Conservative candidate Shaun Bailey set to defeat Labour by just shy of four per cent.

Dudley North, where former Labour MP Ian Austin quit and endorsed the Tories, is predicted to fall to Conservative candidate Marco Longhi by a margin of more than seven per cent.

Meanwhile Wolverhampton could have two Conservative MPs for the first time since 1987, with both the South West and North East seats forecast to change from red to blue.

West Midland targets

The West Midlands has been targeted by the Tories, with party bosses choosing Birmingham and Telford to launch their official campaign and manifesto in a bid to exploit the region's sky high Leave vote.

The poll has been seen as a further boost for Mr Johnson, with Labour already reeling from an attack by the Chief Rabbi who said Mr Corbyn was unfit to lead the country.

It was followed by the Labour leader's disastrous BBC interview, during which he repeatedly refused to apologise for anti-Semitism in his party.

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However, the YouGov analysis shows that a large number of the projected Tory gains are by tiny margins of victory, meaning a small fall in Tory support could deny Mr Johnson the suggested majority.

Chris Curtis, YouGov’s political research manager, said the pollster’s election MRP model suggests the Tories’ projected gains could come at the expense of Labour in northern England and the Midlands.

"As expected, the key thing deciding the extent to which each of these seats is moving against Labour are how that seat voted in the European Union referendum.

"In the seats that voted most strongly to Leave in 2016 (60 per cent or more in favour of departing the EU), the swing to the Conservatives is over 6 per cent.

"This is allowing the Tories to overturn quite substantial majorities in places like West Bromwich East, the seat held until recently by Tom Watson, and Don Valley, the seat currently held by Caroline Flint.

"The only silver lining for Labour is that there are still 30 seats where it is currently five per cent or less behind the Tories.

"If it can manage to squeeze the gap over the coming fortnight it may be able to paste over the cracks in their so-called red wall. But, with just two weeks to go, time is running out for Labour."

The poll puts the Conservatives on 359 seats, up by 42 from 2017. Labour would finish on 211, a loss of 51 seats, while the Lib Dems would end up with one more MP than they had after the last election.

The Brexit Party would not win a single seat, according to the poll.

According to the BBC, Labour insiders have admitted that the party has underestimated the willingness of Leave voters to switch from Labour to the Conservatives, and overestimated the threat of the Lib Dems.

Plans are said to be in place to appeal to Brexit supporters for the final two weeks of the campaign, with Mr Corbyn expected to embark on a tour of Leave areas.