When the results came in, Professor Rawlings caused huge controversy with his projected national vote:
Labour 35%
Tories 26%
LibDems 16%
Others (Independents, Greens, Reform) 22%
This pointed to a Hung Parliament, he told Sky News seriously.
There were cries of "Rubbish!" from political pundits and opinion pollsters, who were predicting a landslide Labour majority.
Well take a look at the latest opinion poll from YouGov:
Labour is on 36%, down from 46% at the start of June
Tories are on 18%, down from 21% at the start of June
Reform are on 17%, up from 15% at the start of June
LibDems are on 15%, up from 8% at the start of June
The Labour and LibDem vote are almost exactly where Professor Rawlings projected them to be.
The Tory and Reform votes are out. If Reform is overstated (they have a rowdy online group that likes being on online survey panels, and if the Tories can squeeze the Reform vote (trying to induce in them cold feet at handing Labour a supermajority), the Tory vote should approach the mid 20's.
Meanwhile lulled by the polls, some Labour people might not vote. Others might go elsewhere e.g. feminists like JK Rowling is recommending people vote independent to protest at Starmer's disregard for protecting single sex spaces.
At that point Professor Rawlings is entitled to allow himself an almighty chuckle.