I grew up in the north east, where the Labour party has a tight grip on most of the region’s constituencies. General elections are more of a formality up there. “Stick a red rosette on anyone and they’ll get elected,” they’d say.

Things are a little bit more exciting here in Leicestershire in the run up to the General Election. Sure, there are safe Labour and Tory seats, but there are also two marginals to watch. They’re both held by Labour, and they’re Tory targets.

But with the Conservatives enjoying a stable 10-point lead over Labour for the past year or so, you could have been forgiven for thinking that a win for Andrew Bridgen in North West Leicestershire and Nicky Morgan in Loughborough was in the bag. And foregone conclusions don’t make for an interesting election campaign.

Tonight’s ICM poll changes that. It is the worst polling result for two years for the Conservatives and their lead has been cut to seven points. It’s the lowest margin they need for a majority in the House of Commons.

For Conservatives it’s bad news. For Labour it’s good news.

But for political journalists everywhere it’s a mouthwatering development – suddenly it’s game on for marginals everywhere.

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