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Theresa May is heading for defeat in at least three of her flagship London boroughs this May, a bombshell poll reveals today.

Conservatives are trailing Labour by 54 per cent to 28 per cent across the capital, the first London poll of the year discloses.

The YouGov survey for Queen Mary University of London finds Mrs May facing bitter setbacks on May 3 - a night that senior Tories already fear will revive rumblings about her leadership.

Jeremy Corbyn will be delighted as the survey shows his party riding high since the last time the boroughs were fought, which was in 2014.

In his inner London heartland the swing from Conservative to Labour is a decisive 13.4 per cent. Even in outer London, where the Conservatives are stronger, the swing is 4.2 per cent.

The shift to Labour suggests a series of Tory citadels are no longer safe, including three that once seemed impregnable.

Wandsworth, which was Margaret Thatcher’s favourite council because of its zero poll tax and mould-breaking efficiencies, would fall from Tory control if the swing was even across inner London.

Westminster, which was hailed as a model of local government efficiency in John Major’s day, would also

Barnet, where the Conservatives have an overall majority of just one, looks certain to change hands.

Hillingdon in outer London looks safe for now, but would be vulnerable if the Labour swing increases in the run-up to polling day.

Any Brexit backlash on the night would add to Mrs May’s woes, the poll suggests. Remain voters split by an overwhelming 65 per cent to Labour and just 15 per cent to the Conservatives.

Moreover, Brexit is listed as one of the most important issues by 21 per cent of Londoners.

Professor Philip Cowley of the university’s Mile End Institute said: “Labour are looking forward to the best performance in vote share in London by any party since 1968.

“The massive swing in inner London in this poll is enough to turn both Westminster and Wandsworth red. In outer London, they should take Barnet, Hillingdon looks very close, and although boundary changes make Bexley very difficult to predict that too looks as if it could be close. These councils could still all go one way or the other by May – but the fact is the Tories are in trouble in all of them.”

Such results could have a major on Mrs May’s authority.

A former minister has told the Standard that some Conservative MPs are only waiting for the town hall results before deciding whether to write letters to Sir Graham Brady, chair of the 1922 Committee, seeking a confidence vote. A Cabinet minister said Londoners might use the locals to “take a free shot” at Brexit.

Tories are also braced for another flagship, Trafford, in Greater Manchester, to fall to Labour.

Today’s survey exposes how dismally the Tories are trailing among black and minority ethnic voters, who back Labour by a massive 78 to 12 per cent. And almost one in 10 people who voted Conservative in the 2017 general election, have switched to Labour for the local elections.

The only age group that backs the Conservatives are older Londoners of over 65, who divide two-to-one for Mrs May’s party.

Voters aged under 50 are solidly behind Labour, in the case of 18-24-year-olds by an astonishing eight-to-one ratio. Even middle aged Londoners of 50 to 64 prefer Labour by 46-33.

Labour support is marginally higher among men than women. The Liberal Democrats are at 11 per cent in the London-wide poll but could still give the Conservatives concern in councils like Kingston, which was Lib Dem held before 2014, and Richmond, where MP Zac Goldsmith won back his Westminster seat by only 45 votes in the general election last year.

The biggest issues in the borough elections, the survey reveals, are housing followed by local services, health and the level of council tax.

Sadiq Khan is rated as doing well by 54 per cent of Londoners, while just 27 per cent think he is doing badly - which less favourable than at the last poll in September 2017, when the divide was 58-23.

Just over a third of Conservative supporters think the Labour mayor is doing well.

Mr Corbyn came ahead of Mrs May when Londoners were asked which of them would make the best prime minister.