The utter irrelevance of the Tories and Labour

Call me old fashioned, but I find it impossible to see how any Tory leader could survive crashing to fifth place in a national election and picking up just 7 per cent of the vote – which is what YouGov predicts in the Times.

Of course it’s only one survey. The real vote tomorrow may yield a better outcome. And Labour is also set for a humiliating night, with just 13 per cent of votes cast, say the pollsters.

But 7 per cent for the supposed natural party of government, for just the past couple of centuries, is the kind of humiliation that few institutions would shrug off. May should count herself very fortunate she isn’t a football manager, because she’d have been back managing Port Vale some time ago.

I am of course talking only about the timing of her departure, not the inevitability of it. The moot question is whether she will quit next week.