Punters flooding bookmakers with general election bets for Labour majority

After a last minute bump in the polls suggesting a rise in support for Labour, bookmakers up and down the country have seen punters rush to put their money on Jeremy Corbyn becoming the next prime minister. Photo: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire - Credit: PA

Britain’s major bookies are still predicting that the Tories will win a comfortable majority with oddschecker giving 2/5 returns on bets for a Conservative majority. On the other hand, the odds of a labour majority are 20/1 (a probability of less than 5%).

Despite this – or maybe because of the potential for great returns – oddschecker are showing that one in five election bets being placed are from gamblers predicting a Labour majority.

A spokesman for Paddy Power said a Labour majority has been “our most popular selection out of all the markets at 20/1”.

READ MORE: Polling mastermind John Curtice says ‘underestimated’ Remain vote will decide electionWriting in the Independent, finance journalist James Moore said: “It’s worth nothing that some of the bookmaker’s rivals are in to 16-1 on Labour springing the political shock of a century that has already seen an awful lot of them.”

Moore continued: “All 20-1 shots are not the same. A horse at that price in a 20 runner sprint […] wouldn’t come as a big surprise. By contrast, a Labour majority looks like a no hoper.”

However, the punters may know something the pundits and bookmakers don’t.

According to the newest Britian Elects poll tracker, the smaller parties are being further squeezed for their vote, with the Greens looking to get 3% of the vote (down 0.2%)m the Brexit Party 3.4% (down 0.4%), and the Lib Dems on track for 13.1% (down 1%).

READ MORE: Priti Patel ranked as one of the worst MPs in last parliamentAt the same time, the Tories are making little gains with their 10% lead over Labour having only grown by 0.1%, while Labour is up 1.4%, holding nearly 33% of the vote.

In the 2017 general election, Labour also made significant gains on what the polls predicted for the party, and if they can continue to make this steady rise, their may be a big pay-off for those putting their money where the mouth is on Labour.