LONDON: The UK Labour party is 99 percent “certain” to secure more seats in Thursday’s general election than when it won a landslide victory in 1997, a major new poll said on Tuesday.
The center-left opposition party — out of power since 2010 — is predicted to claim 484 out of a total of 650 seats in what would be an unprecedented victory in modern British history, pollster Survation said.
Meanwhile, the right-wing ruling Conservatives and the centrist Liberal Democrats (Lib Dems) are in a close race to come a distant second and form the country’s official opposition, it added.
The prediction is the latest in a series of so-called MRP polls — which use large national samples to forecast results for every UK constituency — that estimate Labour will win emphatically on July 4.
Such a scenario would see its leader Keir Starmer replace the Conservatives’ Rishi Sunak as prime minister.
Labour has led the Tories in the polls by double-digit margins for nearly two years, and the gap has failed to narrow during a six-week election campaign widely seen as having gone badly for Sunak.
Survation said its data indicated that Labour would win around 42 percent of the overall vote, ahead of the Conservatives on 23 percent.
However, due to the UK’s winner-takes-all electoral system in each of its 650 constituencies, that would see the Conservatives capture just 64 seats, with the Lib Dems predicted to claim 61.
Labour’s estimated 484 seats would exceed the 418 won by ex-prime minister Tony Blair in 1997, and even top the Tories’ landslide haul of 470 in 1931.
The pollster also predicted that Labour would again become the largest party in Scotland, winning 38 of its 57 seats and supplanting the Scottish National Party (SNP), which it estimated would secure just 10 seats.
The pro-independence SNP won 48 Scottish constituencies at the last election in 2019.
The Conservatives are “virtually certain” to win a lower share of the vote than at any past general election, according to Survation.
Meanwhile, it forecasted that Reform UK, the anti-immigration party founded by Brexit figurehead Nigel Farage, would only win a handful of seats despite taking the third-largest overall share of the vote, again due to the electoral system.
The Survation prediction, based on nearly 35,000 electorate interviews, is likely to intensify warnings by Sunak in the final hours of the campaign that voters should be weary of voting Labour and handing it a so-called “super-majority.”
Starmer has accused his Conservative rivals of running “an increasingly desperate, negative campaign.”
UK Labour set to surpass 1997 landslide in election: poll
https://arab.news/4wpd6
UK Labour set to surpass 1997 landslide in election: poll
- Such a scenario would see its leader Keir Starmer replace the Conservatives’ Rishi Sunak as prime minister
Delhi ‘plant cafe’ offers residents respite from toxic smog
- Air Quality Index in the capital regularly hovers above 300, which is considered dangerous
- Residents are increasingly considering air pollution levels before venturing outside
NEW DELHI: As air pollution hovers around dangerous levels across New Delhi, a small cafe is becoming increasingly popular among residents of the Indian capital, offering respite from the constant toxic smog that threatens public health.
At Planterie, described by its owner as plant studio, rows of plants line both the floor and shelves as dozens of pots with spilling foliage hang by the window, resembling a lush greenhouse.
The cafe has gained traction online over the past month, after visitors posted clips of monitors showing comparatively better air quality inside.
On Wednesday, the Air Quality Index, or AQI, inside the cafe stood at about 30, a stark contrast to the levels outdoors, which hit above 300 across the capital.
On the AQI scale from 0 to 500, good air quality is represented by levels below 50, while levels above 300 are dangerous.
“This is one of a kind in Delhi … I’m sure you can feel the difference once you come in … (plants) make such a difference,” Sureika Narain, a walking tour guide and a regular at the cafe, told Arab News.
“I’ve grown up in Delhi. I’ve seen the pollution become worse and worse, but somehow I’m able to cope with it through the yogas, pranayama (breathing technique), whatever we do in life, and we find places like this that we carry on in life … this kind of place in Delhi is very important.”
Delhi has not recorded a single “clean air” day in 2025, with Air Quality Index readings hitting high above the 50 score throughout the year.
Its residents have staged at least four protests since October, demanding more government action to address air pollution.
The pollution levels also get worse as winter descends, when Delhi’s air further thickens into an opaque, toxic smog, triggering headaches, itchy eyes and burning throats among the public.
“During the winter season, pollution goes very high and people become more and more conscious. And people do find it, like if you come in here, immediately you feel a little bit of calmness, because all the plants and the air is very clean inside,” Farial Sabrina, co-owner of Planterie, told Arab News.
Since opening in 2021, she said some of her customers would commute at least 45 minutes just to visit the cafe, which offers a limited menu and can only accommodate about 20 people at a time.
“I feel grateful and sometimes overwhelmed with the response that people have given. People do come up to us and really thank us for existing,” Sabrina said.
“If you’re living in a big city, we want everything best, but air is a basic right.”
To limit exposure to toxic air, Delhi residents are increasingly choosing to stay at home, where air purifiers are at least keeping them safe.
As many start to consider AQI levels before going outside, places like Planterie are becoming a chosen alternative.
“I try to avoid going outside and the high AQI at the moment, so I mostly stay indoors with the air filter on,” Mona, a Planterie customer, told Arab News.
“The motivation to come here was basically to leave the house in the high AQI and, you know, find a place where the air quality is a little better.”
The same was true for Laura Supprin, a German living in the city.
“This is like a nice combination: good coffee, cute interior, some nice coffees or teas, and also lower AQI. So, it was a win-win,” she said.
“If you’re outside for too long, you, like, get a headache and don’t feel really great. So, having a place like this is good.”
