LABOUR has had a dramatic surge of support in Wales ahead of next month’s General Election, a new poll has shown.

Previous polls carried out the lead-up to next month’s vote have been dismal for Labour, with a number of surveys suggesting the Conservatives could overtake the party as the largest in Wales for the first time since 1922.

But a new poll released this afternoon showed a dramatic reversal of fortunes for the party, predicting it will win 26 seats, an increase of one from 2015.

Although previous polls suggested both Newport seats could be taken by the Conservatives, if yesterday’s study carried out by YouGov for Cardiff University’s Wales Governance Centre and ITV Cymru Wales is correct, only one seat in the whole of Wales will change hands, with Labour regaining the Gower, which fell to the Tories by a of just 27 votes in 2015.

Professor Roger Scully of the Wales Governance Centre said “Labour are still very much in the game.”

“While short-term factors may account for some of what we see in this latest barometer poll, it does appear that after the extraordinary success of the Conservative party at the beginning of the election campaign, they are losing some ground to Labour,” he said.

“At least for the moment, Labour seem to be winning the campaign, if not the election as a whole.

“That is particularly true in Wales.”

He added the results of the Local Government Election earlier this month “showed the resilience” of Labour in Wales.

“A party does not dominate the politics of a nation for nearly a century, as Labour have done in Wales, simply by accident,” he said.

“Challenged strongly by the Conservatives in this election, Labour seem to be fighting back strongly.

But professor Scully said it was possible the results had been affected as a result of being carried out in the immediate aftermath of the death of ex-first minister Rhodri Morgan.

“It is possible that there may have been some short-term ‘sympathy’ boost for Labour,” he said.