Newly drawn constituency boundaries could hand the Conservatives an increased majority

Ballot box - credit: PA

Newly drawn constituency boundaries could hand the Conservatives an increased majority at the next general election, according to a new report.

The Tories currently hold a 12 seat majority in the Commons. But a new report from Electoral Calculus forecasts that boundary changes would increase the Tory majority to 48. Meanwhile if current polling continued, that majority would rise to 90.

The Boundary Commission is examining how to reduce the total number of MPs at the Commons from 650 MPs down to 600 ahead of the 2020 general election.

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UK Polling Report found that if the new boundaries had been used at the 2015 general election the Tory majority would have risen from 12 up to 44.

The number of MPs representing Scotland is likely to be reduced, which would likely further boost the Conservative majority.

There have been suggestions May could try to force an early election to capitalise on Labour’s chaotic leadership situation and increase her working majority in the House of Commons.

However the new Prime Minister has repeatedly said she does not want to have another election campaign, particularly given the scale of the task of extricating the UK from the European Union.