Latest poll (YouGov/Sunday Times) Conservatives 43 seats short of a majority.
There are no fewer than six new opinion polls out today, most of which show the Conservatives’ lead beginning to recover.
The latest Ipsos MORI/News of the World poll will undoubtedly attract the most attention. It puts the Tories up four points to 36 per cent, Labour up two to 30 per cent and the Lib Dems down nine to a pre-debate level of 23 per cent. But since none of the remaining five show a similar decline in Lib Dem support, I think it’s safe to assume this is a rogue poll (around one in twenty are).
Elsewhere, the YouGov daily tracker has the Tories on 35 per cent (+1), the Lib Dems on 28 per cent (-1) and Labour on 27 per cent (-2). If repeated on a uniform swing at the election, the figures would leave David Cameron 43 seats short of a majority in a hung parliament.
It’s worth noting that after reaching a peak of 34 per cent last week, the Lib Dems’ share of the vote has settled at around 28-29. This is still unusually high, but it does suggest that the surge may have peaked.
Meanwhile, the latest ComRes survey for the Sunday Mirror and the Independent on Sunday shows the Conservative lead falling back to five points after two earlier polls put it at eight-nine points. The poll puts the Tories down one to 34 per cent, the Lib Dems up two 29 per cent and Labour up three to 28 per cent.
New Statesman Poll of Polls
Hung parliament, Conservatives 54 seats short.
Like ComRes, the latest ICM/Sunday Telegraph poll also suggests support for the Lib Dems remains healthy, with Clegg’s party up one to 31 per cent. The Tories are on 35 per cent (+2) and Labour on 26 per cent (-2). On a uniform swing, the figures would leave Cameron 50 seats short of an overall majority.
There is also a new BPIX poll for the Mail on Sunday which has topline figures of Con 34 per cent (+3), Lib Dems 30 per cent (-2) and Lab 26 per cent (-2). Finally, a OnePoll survey for the People has the Tories on 32 per cent, the Lib Dems also 32 per cent and Labour on just 23 per cent. But it’s currently unclear whether the company uses proper weighting, so I’m leaving it out of our Poll of Polls for now.
Overall, it looks the right-wing smears against Nick Clegg have failed to dent Lib Dem support and that his party is still set for a record-breaking performance at the election. Meanwhile, several of the polls suggest that the extraordinary possibility of Labour falling into third place at the election cannot be ignored.
In the case of the Tories, a significant amount of progress is needed in the remaining two weeks if they are to prevent Britain’s first hung parliament since 1974.
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