'It's For The Birds': Pollster Mocks Rishi Sunak For Saying UK Heading For Hung Parliament

  (The Huffington Post) : Rishi Sunak is trying to put a positive spin on the local election results. Rishi Sunak’s claim that the local election results show the UK is heading for a hung parliament is “for the birds”, according to a top pollster. Ben Page, global chief executive of Ipsos, said the Conservatives are as popular as “a cup of cold sick” after the prime minister insisted there was still all to play for in the general election. His comments, on Times Radio, came after the prime minister admitted Labour were on course to win the election - but would fail to get a Commons majority. Sunak based his comments on analysis of last week’s local election results, in which the Tories lost nearly 500 seats, by polling expert Michael Thrasher. He put Labour’s national lead over the Conservatives is just seven points, well short of what opinion polls have been saying for months. However, others pointed out that Thrasher’s forecast was based on the assumption that Scotland - where there were no local elections last week - would vote the same way it did in 2019, when Labour won just one seat. The PM said: “These results suggest we are heading for a hung parliament with Labour as the largest party. Keir Starmer propped up in Downing Street by the SNP, Liberal Democrats and the Greens would be a disaster for Britain.” Asked for his reaction to the PM’s remarks, Ben Page said: “I think it’s for the birds, to be honest, at the moment. “If you look at the swing in Blackpool South, 30% or so, you look at these local election results, which we haven’t seen anything of this kind since just before Labour ..