Daily Telegraph poll claims Lib Dem Tom Gordon will defeat Andrew Jones MP in Harrogate at General Election

With a sample size of 14,000, the most detailed public survey in five years has predicted that Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate Tom Gordon is set to defeat Mr Jones at the election.

As reported in The Telegraph yesterday, Sunday, the poll predicts that Andrew Jones MP would narrowly lose the Harrogate and Knaresborough seat to Lib Dem candidate Tom Gordon if an election were held now.

Responding to news of the poll, Tom Gordon said: “People in Harrogate and Knaresborough deserve better.

"The new poll shows that thousands of voters are crying out for real change in the constituency after being taken for granted by this Conservative government.

"Conservative MPs are too busy fighting with themselves to care for our area.

"We shouldn’t be in a situation where local families can’t get a GP appointment, water companies get away with dumping sewage in our rivers, and people can’t afford the basics

"If elected our area's next MP, I would stand up for Harrogate & Knaresborough and give local people the voice that they need and deserve.”

But Harrogate and Knaresborough's sitting Tory MP, Andrew Jones, who has won four election wins in a row since 2010, hit back saying he did not take any votes for granted and one poll did not make a result.

“I haven’t read the Telegraph report in detail,” said Mr Jones, “but I do know that other sites such as Electoral Calculus tell a different story and give the rationale and workings behind their prediction.

“Fixating on the polls though isn’t my priority; I am happy to wait for the result of the election itself.

"I’ve never taken people’s votes for granted – people’s support needs to be earned.

"Up until then, and if the public choose beyond, I will continue speaking out for our area and getting things done locally.

"That is an MP's job. Pouring over the details of this poll or that poll, I will leave to others.”

Although Prime Minister Rishi Sunak still has nearly a year to call a General Election, the MRP poll by YouGov does not make good reading for the Government.

The Telegraph estimates that the Conservative Party will slump to 169 seats as Labour wins a governing majority of around 120.

The Lib Dems are predicted to win 48 seats at the next election, most of them from the so-called “Blue Wall”.

The past two years have seen the Lib Dems score four unprecedented by-election wins in formerly safe Conservative seats.

Last year saw Harrogate and Knaresborough Lib Dems win the local popular vote and the majority of councillors forHarrogate & Knaresborough in the North Yorkshire Counncil elections.

Nationally, the Lib Dems have identified constituencies like Harrogate & Knaresborough as the centrepiece of the party’s General Election campaign.

The party is calling for the right to see a GP within a week or 24 hours if in urgent need, a legal guarantee to start cancer treatment within two months of an urgent referral and ensuring people can get an NHS dentist appointment.

Locally, Harrogate & Knaresborough Lib Dems are running major campaigns focused on fixing local health services they say have been run into the ground.