The 10 constituencies top the Tories’ hit-list, with the tightest – Dudley North in the West Midlands – won by Labour by just 22 votes in 2017. Added together, the overall majority amounts to just 10,355 votes out of a total UK electorate of just under 46 million. If the Tories were to win 5,186 extra votes in these constituencies, in addition to the seats the party won two years ago, they could secure 327 seats – a wafer-thin majority of two.

The 10 seats, in alphabetical order, are: Ashfield (Labour majority 441); Bedford (789); Bishops Auckland (502); Blackpool South (2,523); Crewe and Nantwich (48); Wrexham (1,832); Newcastle under Lyme (30); Dudley North (22); Darlington (3,280); and Stockton South (888).

The votes needed for these seats to change hands equates to 5,186 votes, which is half of the majority plus one.

The analysis shows the uphill task Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn face to replace Mr Johnson in Downing Street.

Mr Corbyn has the longest odds of any opposition leader since the 2001 general election to win a majority at this point of the campaign trail – according to betting trends analysts BonusCodeBets.co.uk.

The Labour leader is rated at 25/1 with most bookies to form the next government outright – and not since Tony Blair’s second election victory in 2001 have the odds been worse (50/1 for William Hague).

At this stage around two-and-a-half weeks before the polls opened, Mr Corbyn was 20/1 to win a majority against Theresa May while in 2015, Ed Miliband was actually 4/5 favourite in the betting markets over David Cameron before tailing off and handing the Tories a 12-seat majority.

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8.29am update: Labour squeeze Tory leader, shows poll

Nevertheless Labour has squeezed the Tories’ poll lead to 11 points from 18 over the last week, a survey by Kantar showed on today.

Support for Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservatives fell 2 points to 43 percent, while Labour was up five points on 32 percent.

The Liberal Democrats were down two on 14 percent, while the Brexit Party was up one on three percent.

Kantar surveyed 1,097 people online between November 21 and 25.

The poll is the second in two days to show a narrowing of the Conservatives’ lead. On Monday, an ICM poll for Reuters gave the Conservatives a seven-point lead, down from 10 points a week earlier.

Both parties have published their manifestos, setting out the policies they plan to implement if elected, since the previous Kantar and ICM polls were conducted.

8.25am update: Labour voters are ‘ASHAMED’ of party, Chief Rabbi says as he makes election plea

The Chief Rabbi has warned the “very soul of our nation” would be placed at stake if Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party wins the general election.

Ephraim Mirvis delivered the warning ahead of Britons going to the poll on December 12 that “the overwhelming majority of British Jews are gripped by anxiety”.

The shock intervention likely to derail the launch of Labour’s race and faith manifesto, which is to be released tomorrow.

Labour has been beset with complaints about anti-Semitism but Jeremy Corbyn has previously underlined it is tackling the issue by expelling members.

8.21am update: Corbyn “not fit to be Prime Minister”, says Heseltine

Lord Heseltine has said he cannot support people who are going to make the country “poorer and less influential” – singling out Labour leader Jeremy 

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said Jeremy Corbyn “isn’t fit to be prime minister, he’s not going to be prime minister and you know it, I know it and every pollster reveals it”.

He added: “I think it’s much more likely – the question is not whether he can be prime minister, it’s whether he continues to lead the Labour Party by Christmas because I think there will be a great move to get rid of him.

“I think anyone who might form a temporary coalition will insist on it not being Jeremy Corbyn.”

Lord Heseltine said: “The real issue is what is at stake and it is the prosperity of this country, the world influence of this country, our relationships with our neighbours in Europe – this is transcendingly the over-arching issue at stake in this election.

“I cannot vote or support people who are going to make the country poorer and less influential – full stop, end of story.”

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