INDEPENDENT Parliamentary candidate Ivan Lewis has urged people in Bury South to vote Tory in a remarkable bid to keep Jeremy Corbyn out of No.10.

In a shock move, with just over one week remaining before the borough goes to the polls, the former Labour MP has said that voting Conservative is the only way to stop Mr Corbyn and appealed to voters to turn their support from him to Tory candidate Christian Wakeford.

It comes after a new Yougov poll suggested Mr Lewis was set to lose the seat he has represented since 1997 ­— with just three percent of electors saying they will vote for him.

Mr Lewis initially trashed the poll's findings and last week told the Bury Times his victory at next week’s election is “definitely doable” and felt he was locked in a three way fight.

However, today, he seemed to admit defeat, and threw his weight behind the party he has spent decades in opposition to, in an extraordinary reversal.

In a statement he said: “It has been a tremendous honour to represent my hometown for the past 22 years.

"In this election, I have spoken to many Bury South voters who have told me the priority for our local community and country is to stop Jeremy Corbyn becoming Prime Minister.

"As the Independent Candidate, I am grateful for the support I have received but it is now clear that the best way to stop Corbyn in Bury South is to vote Conservative and support their candidate Christian Wakeford.

“So today, I’m asking the thousands of voters in Bury South who don’t think Corbyn is fit to be Prime Minister to vote Conservative.

"Many will be voting Conservative for the first time and it will require much soul searching. But it is the right thing to do.”

Following in the vein of his excoriating letter of resignation from Labour published 12 months ago, Mr Lewis lambasted the party's leader, saying Mr Corbyn's "is not the Labour Party of our parents and grandparents".

The independent candidate accused Mr Corbyn of "hostility to our key intelligence allies", supporting terrorists and favouring Russia and Iran.

While Mr Lewis further criticised his former party on Brexit and described its manifesto as 'unaffordable and undeliverable' threat to the economy.

Conversely, voting Conservative, Mr Lewis said, is the only way to ensure Brexit is delivered, protect national security, stand in solidarity with the Jewish community, and "make sure the economy doesn’t crash with devastating consequences for working people".

In his statement, Mr Lewis said he had received assurances from the Secretary of State for Education that "if re-elected the new Conservative Government will look favourably at the application which has been submitted for the new Secondary School in Radcliffe.

"Christian is also committed to strongly opposing the destruction of local Greenbelt."

"At this election, the future of our country is on the line like never before. The only way to stop Corbyn in Bury South is to vote Conservative,” he added.

Mr Lewis was suspended from the Labour Party in 2017 over claims of sexual harassment.

He has since stridently denied all allegations and slammed Labour's investigation as "flawed" and "subject to political manipulation".

Today a Labour source told the Bury Times: "Ivan Lewis was suspended from Labour while we investigated serious sexual harassment complaints about him.

"He left the party shortly before his hearing, denying the complainants their opportunity for their case to be heard. He is not a credible voice on tackling discrimination."